The Oasis
by K.S. Reynard
Summary: When Fox is sent to a desert world far outside the Lylat System to investigate a possible nuclear threat, he finds much more than he first anticipated. With his initial objective compromised, he is forced to work alongside a suspicious bounty hunter named Scarlet to prevent a catastrophe with the potential to plunge Lylat into a war of an unprecedented scale.
1. Chapter 1: A Second Chance

_AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):_

_The timeframe for The Oasis is eight years after the end of the Lylat Wars- the same timeframe as Star Fox: Adventures. I will explain this more in depth at the end of the chapter._

_Rated M for Violence, Blood, Infrequent Language, Nudity, and Suggestive/Sexual Content._

* * *

**ARC I: THE OASIS**

**Chapter 1: A Second Chance**

Cold. The air inside the Great Fox was an uncomfortably cool 55 degrees Fahrenheit. In response to the Star Fox team's current monetary situation, all unnecessary expenditures had to be curtailed as much as possible; including the large battleship's onboard water supply and its heater. In the eight years following the end of the Lylat Wars and the defeat of Andross, the amount of criminal activity in the Lylat System had dropped to an abnormally low level. There was very little for the pilots of Star Fox to do other than to sit back and hope for a call from General Pepper or someone else who would be able to offer them a worthwhile paycheck.

Falco Lombardi had already abandoned the team for his past lifestyle as a member of a galactic gang, leaving only Fox, Slippy, and Peppy to maintain Star Fox's image. Great Fox, the team's mothership, was in noticeable disrepair, as were their Arwings. To salvage some much-needed additional funding, the team had even been forced to remove and pawn some of their fighters' features in exchange for quick cash. The monetary crisis was so serious that once the Great Fox's large plasma fuel reservoirs burned out, Star Fox would not have the means to refill them. The situation for the team had never been more dire.

In his personal quarters, Fox McCloud pulled his bedsheets above his head, trying to trap the heat beneath the covers to stay warm. The plunging temperatures inside the Great Fox had prevented him from achieving a good night's rest for the fifth time that week. The mood inside the ship had gradually become more and more dour as the time passed, and Fox was beginning to feel lonely. He was not sure why this was, but he had started to wonder if finding a girlfriend or a mate would fix this problem. He was 26 now, but he had never found the time for courtship or romance. His team was far more important to him than a petty relationship with a vulpine female; and besides, one more set of paws onboard the Great Fox would only quicken the team's already rapid descent into bankruptcy.

Realizing that sleep was impossible, Fox sat up in bed and turned on the small lamp before snatching up a men's magazine from his nightstand and opening it. The particular volume he kept with him in his room was the yearly swimsuit edition that had been printed more than two months ago. The vulpine eagerly sifted through its pages, 'admiring' the scores of scantily-clad females. He felt partially satisfied by reading the magazine; but at the same time, he was overcome with misery stemming from his lack of female companionship.

He knew that it would be a cinch to pick up a girl that had an interest in him—after all, he was responsible for defending the Lylat System from Andross and the Venom Army. However, he was aware that they would most likely only strike up a relationship with him because of his fame or assumed fortune, not because of who he really was. In some ways, Fox disliked being well-known. It certainly wasn't going to make bankruptcy any easier.

He placed the magazine back on the nightstand and slowly lowered himself out of bed, with the alarm clock beneath the lamp indicating that it was 6:10 A.M. Fox loudly groaned after seeing the time, knowing that he would not be able to go back to bed and fall asleep due to the uncomfortably cold temperatures onboard the ship. He slowly walked into his personal bathroom, wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of navy blue cotton sweat pants that he had recently started wearing to bed to combat the plunging temperatures. He lazily looked at himself in the mirror and began to comb through the fur on his head, trying to make himself look as presentable as possible. Not that it really mattered, though. No one cared what he looked like onboard the Great Fox.

Fox opened the cap on a bottle of spray deodorant and misted his chest with the somewhat synthetic scent to mask his unpleasant odor, which came from not showering in more than two days thanks to Peppy's water rationing. The vulpine then walked from the bathroom into his closet, where he exchanged his sleepwear for the clothes he had begun wearing not too long ago. His current outfit consisted of a pair of green pants, a matching green shirt, a white sleeveless vest, and of course, his signature red scarf. He wore it in memory of his father, who also had a soft spot for the wooly clothing accessory.

While he was adjusting the scarf, he heard a series of loud, frantic knocks at his bedroom door.

"What is it?" he unhappily shouted.

The voice that came in reply was none other than that of Peppy Hare. "Fox! Come to the bridge immediately! We might have a job!"

Fox quickly abandoned his meaningless fiddling and raced towards the Great Fox's bridge, where a holographic image of General Pepper was displayed. Both Slippy and Peppy were already present in the piloting area. The vulpine leader expectantly ran up to the projector and expectantly asked, "What is it, General?"

The old hound dog replied, "Star Fox, it appears that you have an opportunity to make yourselves a bit of money. I don't think you're the best choice for this mission, but I know you deserve a second chance. After what you did for us against Andross, I figured that I'd give you the option to take the job before I passed it along to someone else."

"What do you want us to do, sir?" Fox asked.

"We've located a weapons dealer with past ties to Andross on a desert planet far outside the Lylat System. The planet is called Tehraia. Our intelligence claims that this weapons dealer may be in possession of nuclear weaponry. We cannot allow him or one of his associates to use those weapons against us. Your job is to find out if they exist; and if they do, let us know before you do anything else."

"You got it, sir," Fox firmly replied. "We'll head to Tehraia now."

"I'm making arrangements for you to stay at a desert hotel called the Oasis as we speak," said Pepper. "Unfortunately, you'll have to use an alias while you're on the job. We can't have our target knowing that you're there. What name would you like to use?"

Fox thought for a few moments before he had the idea to switch his first and middle names and use the resulting title as his assumed identity. "James Fox," he confidently replied.

"Fair enough, Fox," the General heartily spoke, "Your fee has been approved. By the time you arrive on the planet, your hotel reservation will be ready for you. Good luck, Fox. Pepper out!"

The hologram of General Pepper quickly disappeared; and immediately afterwards, Slippy, Peppy, and Fox all celebrated the opportunity to redeem themselves from the clutches of economic ruin.

"It's about time we got something to do!" Slippy enthusiastically remarked.

"Hopefully, we can get this ship back to its normal operating condition with the money from this job. I'm really jealous of you, Fox," Peppy commented before lightly chuckling, "I wish General Pepper would have booked me a room at that hotel. If would sure beat this icebox."

The vulpine smiled and warmly replied, "Maybe next time, Peppy. Hey, at least you're not the one who has to do the dangerous work."

"Dangerous work? Come on, Fox! All you've got to do is find out if this so-called 'weapons dealer' has the weapon General Pepper's interested in. After that, you probably won't have to do anything. The Cornerian Army will handle the rest."

"Come on, Peppy—I was trying to make it sound difficult," Fox replied in defeat. "Of course it's going to be an easy mission. Did you really think I was that ignorant?"

"No, Fox," Peppy said with a smile. "I kind of figured that you were toying with me."

Star Fox's leader smiled back, then turned his head in the direction of ROB and ordered, "ROB, set a course for Tehraia."

The robot stiffly moved his metallic arms and methodically replied, "Coordinates confirmed. Setting course now."

* * *

The journey to Tehraia took longer than Fox and his crew had expected, but they arrived at the desert planet nonetheless. Star Fox peered curiously out the Great Fox's front windows and observed the dusty, yellow planet below. Large cities dotted the planet's surface, but there was very little contact between them because they were so far apart from each other. The Oasis hotel that Fox was going to be residing in was located twenty miles outside the largest of the cities, named Yaruit. True to its name, the hotel was positioned in the middle of an unspoiled desert wilderness with large sand dunes covering the nearby landscape.

Fox made his way to the Great Fox's hangar, where his Arwing was attached to a ceiling-mounted rail which assisted in launching the fighter. He slowly climbed into the silver craft and closed the canopy as he readied the ship for launch. The vulpine attached his headset and adjusted it to fit properly as Peppy's voice entered his ears.

"Be careful out there, Fox. I know it's supposed to be an easy mission, but you never know what might happen. Try not to draw a lot of attention to yourself, okay?"

Fox smiled and answered, "Sure thing, Peppy. I'll be done before you know it."

With that, Fox launched his Arwing out of the hangar and into space before performing a barrel roll and checking his ship's wings. All of the Arwing's systems were functioning correctly. Soon, Slippy's voice came through his headset, telling him, "Hey, Fox—I set the waypoint for the hotel on your navigation system."

"Thanks, Slippy," Fox gratefully replied as he descended into the planet's atmosphere. The sky above the planet was almost completely clear of clouds, and the sun shone down on the desert sands below with a ferocious intensity. Completely unfazed by the sunlight, Fox removed a pair of aviator sunglasses from his white jacket's pocket and placed them in front of his eyes.

He realized that if it was anywhere near as hot as he thought it would be, he would need to acquire some new clothes for himself. Clothes that matched those of the Tehraian inhabitants would also make it easier for him to blend in and avoid being picked out as a spy by anyone who might have been associated with the weapons dealer he had been sent to investigate. He had packed two changes of clothing, but they were equally as heavy as the gear he was wearing at the moment; and with the planet's average daytime temperature hovering at an uncomfortably hot 95 degrees, his adventuring clothes would definitely be unsuitable for the harsh climes of Tehraia.

Fox followed the navigation beacon on his Arwing's dash readout until he laid eyes on the magnificent obsidian-colored towers of the Oasis resort. The twin buildings were each more than 1,500 feet tall, and each of them was capped with a pyramid roof. Enclosed walkways bridged the gap between the two structures, and the entire resort was surrounded by a shallow, clear pool of water with a large number of squared platforms that were present merely for the sake of decoration. A large, silver panel was present in the middle of the desert sand directly outside the resort area, and Fox quickly determined that this was where the hangar was located.

A female voice with an (_Arabic_) accent came over his communicator and said, "Pilot, please identify yourself."

"James Fox," he confidently replied.

A five-second silence occurred before the air traffic controller said, "Your identity has been verified, Mr. Fox. Proceed to the landing area."

The silver panel below him opened up, revealing many other spacecrafts in the area below. Most of them were transports and civilian crafts, but a few military fighters like his Arwing were present in the hangar. Very carefully, Fox dropped altitude and lowered his Arwing into an empty docking space next to a sleek, wedge-shaped fighter that had been painted a fiery shade of blood red.

The lone mercenary climbed out of his Arwing's cockpit and walked through a heavy pair of metallic sliding doors into an underground passageway that led to the Oasis Resort's check-in desk. After clearing another set of doors, Fox found himself in a hallway that was very reminiscent of an aquarium tunnel. Water surrounded him from all sides, although no fish were present in the artificial enclosure that had been built under the waters of the decorative pool that surrounded the resort's two towers. The only other person in the immediate vicinity was a female avian who gave him a quick glance before returning her gaze to the door that stood before her and Fox.

"_I've got a good feeling about this_," Fox thought while admiring the lavish, overwrought designs and structures belonging to the resort General Pepper had sent him to.

After pushing open the door to exit the underwater tunnel, Fox stepped across the main lobby area's polished marble floors and followed the elegantly-printed signs which directed him to the resort's front desk. The check-in area was even more extravagant than anything he had seen in the resort thus far. Exotic indoor plants had been placed in highly decorative locations to add an element of natural beauty to the otherwise synthetic structure; and a large fountain that filled a pool of blue water stood near the main desk, which Fox confidently approached.

"Good evening, sir," the tigress at the desk warmly spoke. "Do you have a reservation with us?"

"James Fox," Fox calmly replied.

The receptionist mumbled 'James Fox' to herself as she typed in the name to confirm her vulpine guest's identity; and her computer quickly indicated a reservation for the name Fox had mentioned. "Oh… It's already been paid for. Very well, then, Mr. Fox—here's your room key. Your room number is 2830. It's on the 28th floor of the west tower. If there's anything we can do to make your stay more enjoyable, please let us know. We'd be happy to help."

"Thanks, but I think I'll be alright," Fox replied.

Leaving the check-in desk with his room key in one paw and his small bag of hygienic products and two changes of clothes in the other; Fox made his way to the ornately-decorated elevators, which were framed with gold-plated steel. A white-furred tiger couple stepped into the elevator with him, took a quick glance at the interestingly-dressed vulpine, and then directed their attention elsewhere. Fox selected the button marked '28,' and the elevator soon began its ascent. It stopped at the 15th floor to let the other occupants of the elevator out, leaving Fox alone in the small enclosure.

He felt slightly out of place in the hotel, considering that most of the denizens of the upper-crust establishment were finely attired; unlike him, who was dressed in his rough-and-ready mercenary gear. No matter, though. He had brought a small amount of money with him; and if the need for new clothes arose, he would be able to acquire some without great difficulty.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the elevator's bell as it stopped on the 19th floor to allow another hotel patron to step on. Fox's attention was immediately diverted towards the person who was about to enter the elevator with him when he noticed that it was a ravishingly beautiful red vixen with long, flowing, black hair. She wore a pair of snug-fitting black pants and a matching cut-off tank top that left her midriff partially uncovered. Her eyes were of a dazzling blue coloration, and her face and muzzle were exceptionally well-formed.

Fox tried as best he could not to stare at the attractive vixen who had just joined him, but when she reached forward to press an elevator button and then realized that Fox had already selected the floor she was going to, his heart almost skipped a beat.

"28, huh?" the vixen coldly said.

Completely nervous and unsure of what to say back to her, Fox anxiously mumbled, "Yeah..."

The vixen continued to run her eyes over Fox's figure. It was clear that she liked what she was seeing, even though her expression gave away very little information about her inner being. "Mercenary, aren't you? Who're you working for?" she firmly asked.

Fox almost jumped out of his fur after hearing the vixen's question. "W…what?! How did you know?"

"An educated guess," she smoothly replied. "You stick out like a sore thumb around here."

"Same to you."

The vixen shrugged and said, "I suppose. I never really gave it that much thought." She quickly paused before asking Fox, "So, you got a name?"

Fox wasn't sure which name to give her for fear of giving away his identity. Either way, he felt that it was a lose/lose situation for himself. "Which one?" he nervously asked.

The vixen answered, "Come on—no mercenary should ever be expected to give out his real name. The alias is fine."

"If that's the case, call me James Fox."

"Charming name," she replied, "I'm Scarlet, by the way. Pleased to meet you." She extended her paw for Fox to shake, and he somewhat reluctantly accepted her gesture of kindness. A lot could be determined by a handshake, and Fox noticed this immediately as he shook Scarlet's fiery red paw. The vixen's grip on his hand was as firm as General Pepper's, and she immediately forced his masculine hand into a submissive grip with hers over top of his. Quickly, Fox began to realize that this 'Scarlet' person was not someone to be trifled with.

After the elevator had reached the 28th floor, both foxes stepped out of the elevator and into the nearby hall before locating their rooms. To Fox's shock, the vixen took her key card and opened the door marked 2829—the one right next to his.

"Interesting," Scarlet muttered as she opened her door. "Catch you later, Mr. Fox."

With that, the attractive vixen disappeared into her room and closed the door behind her. Fox simply stood in the hallway outside her room, not sure what to think about her. While he contemplated his meeting with the vixen, he thought he heard a faint splashing sound coming from inside her room.

Finding himself alone in the 28th floor's hallway, Fox slid his plastic key card into room 2830's door slot and turned the gold-plated door lever in anticipation of viewing his room for the first time. The sight before him immediately caused him to drop his bag on the floor and stare in shock at his dwelling place's opulent trappings.

The abnormally high ceiling was painted in a rough-textured sandstone color that gave the illusion that it was made of stone. The floors were covered with highly reflective black tiles that contrasted perfectly with the light-colored ceiling, while several warm yellow lights added a relaxing, indulgent air to the room. However, the most striking feature the room had to offer was a large swimming pool that occupied most of the floor space. The pool even extended out to the balcony area, allowing the room's residents to swim outside and look over the railing down to the desert below without leaving the comfort of the cool waters.

To the left of the pool was Fox's luxurious king-sized bed, and to the right was his bathroom and closet. The overall feel of the room was that of the most sumptuous regality, and Fox found it difficult to believe that General Pepper had offered to pay for his stay at what was clearly the most expensive and luxurious hotel available to the residents of Tehraia. Without hesitation, he walked across the black tile to his bed and climbed onto it after first removing his boots for fear of staining the downy, sand-colored bedsheets.

He breathed deeply, allowing the calming air of the room to fill his lungs. The hot desert wind blew in from the open balcony, but its heat never reached his bed chamber thanks to a high-powered cooling unit that had been installed in the room. The energy bills for the hotel must have been sky high, but with the hefty price of admission, it was a price the hotel's management could easily pay.

Now feeling completely comfortable, Fox began to think about the mission he had been sent to accomplish. Pepper had given him no time frame for it—all he had to do was find out if a rogue weapons dealer on the planet had access to nuclear armaments. After that, the Cornerian Army would take over control of the operation.

However, Fox wasn't ready to start hunting his prey just yet. The sun was starting to set, and he wanted to find out more about what this planet had to offer. He eyed the swimming pool, but decided that he would indulge himself in it after he had visited the nearby city of Yaruit. Pulling his boots back on, Fox made his way out of his room and back into the elevator area before descending to the ground floor and entering an area designated for the hotel's on-demand chauffeur service.

A large, black car rolled up to the curb inside a large parking garage, which was filled with dozens of high-priced, exotic vehicles that would normally be impossible to find in such close proximity to each other. A tall chameleon wearing a suit and tie courteously opened the car's back door, which had "Oasis Resort Transport Service" written on it; and Fox gratefully dropped into the back seat and moved over to the left side of the car.

Before the chameleon could close the car door and allow Fox and his driver to depart and head for the large, bustling city, a red-furred figure quickly entered the parking garage and quickly requested that the lizard hold the door for her. The beautiful figure of Scarlet effortlessly slipped into the back seat and slid into the unoccupied space next to Fox. Instead of the light garb she had been wearing earlier, she was now clad in a heavy white overcoat that appeared to be covering a skin-tight black catsuit that suited her feminine form very well.

The vixen turned her head towards Fox and dryly said, "Fancy seeing _you_ here."

Fox simply mumbled an incoherent sound, making no attempt at any conversation with her as he uneasily he ran his eyes over the red vixen that was seated next to him. It seemed very suspicious for her to be wearing an overcoat when the external temperature was still in the upper 80s; and he immediately suspected that she was hiding something under her clothes—most likely a weapon or two. "Why the coat?" he uneasily asked.

"I like it," she harshly answered. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Um, no," said Fox, "It just seems a bit strange for you to be wearing that here when it's so hot outside. Are you going to Yaruit, too?"

"I am," she replied.

"What are you going to do there?"

"Why should I tell you that?" she snapped. "Explain yourself first before you start getting into other peoples' business. Go on—I'm listening."

Fox tensed up and frowned. He was insatiably curious about the highly suspicious vixen that was sitting next to him, but the last thing he wanted to do was to compromise his mission. He thought it best to keep quiet and not say anything, but the stern gaze from the vixen next to him was indicating for him to do otherwise. He crossed his arms and leaned away from her into the depths of the leather bench seat he was sitting on, but Scarlet was giving him no quarter with her death stare that Fox felt would be capable of melting steel.

He hadn't felt this uncomfortable in quite some time. He knew that he should have thought better and simply ignored her when she climbed into the car with him. Then again, how could he possibly ignore someone as ravishingly beautiful as her? Silently, he cursed himself for being too over eager to ask her questions that he had no right to ask.

Hoping to pacify the unhappy vixen, he reluctantly admitted, "I've been hired by the Cornerian military to check out the possibly of nuclear weapon somewhere nearby. There you go. Now tell me what you're doing."

Scarlet cruelly smiled and bitingly remarked, "Wow. Your friends just picked up on that?"

"What do you mean?" Fox quizzically asked.

"They've had the nukes for months already. That's old news," she said, almost laughing at Fox's naivety.

Stunned, Fox pulled up his wrist interface and prepared to contact General Pepper immediately. However, Scarlet swiftly and violently swatted his arm, causing Fox to cry out in pain and preventing him from initiating the call. "Ouch! What was that for?"

The vixen snarled, "Don't call your general. If your people show up here, all hell's going to break loose. We're not dealing with just a rogue weapons dealer here, Mr. Fox."

"...Just call me Fox, please," he said.

Scarlet harshly replied, "Fine. Fox it is, then."

Trying to avoid stirring up any further animosity with the vixen, he asked, "Who are we up against, then? And why did you say _we_?"

"I thought you might want to make yourself useful," she replied in a borderline deprecating fashion. "If you help me complete my objective, I'll give you half of my cut. Are you handy with a blaster?"

"I guess so. What are you trying to do?" Fox asked.

Scarlet explained, "I'm trying to collect evidence related to my boss's person of interest. We've been after him for three months, and now it's time to put him out for good. I found a good vantage point last night when I was scouting the area around downtown. We can camp out there and see if he decides to show up tonight."

Somewhat irritably, Fox enquired, "Who's _he_?"

The vixen replied, "My target is an iguana named Antoine Carache. He owns and operates one of the two mega-corporations on my home planet of Skallis. He's got a bounty of 5 million on his head; and I've got a good feeling that it's not going to be there much longer. If you help me take him down, I'll give you 2.5 of that."

Fox uncomfortably fidgeted in his seat at the mention of possibly earning 2.5 million credits for assisting Scarlet in her mission to take down the foreign businessman. General Pepper's initial proposal had only offered 300,000 credits as a reward; and if Scarlet was true to her word and paid Fox the 2.5 million she said that she would give to him, he would have more than enough money to repair the _Great Fox_ and lift Star Fox out of the clutches of near-bankruptcy. It was a tempting offer, and the fact that Scarlet was an almost perfect 10 in his eyes was beginning to tip his internal balance in favor of working with her.

Her harsh temperament was slightly off-putting to him, but he had a feeling that she _was _capable of some level of emotion. The mere fact that she had offered him a cut of her pay and a chance to assist her was enough to tell him that she saw something in him that he himself may have missed. However, he also knew that he would have to be very cautious not to cross her or fall into the crosshairs of her angst while on the job. Fox was well aware that she was some kind of mercenary—probably a bounty hunter—and bounty hunters were an ilk of people that Fox preferred to avoid. Some mercenaries had morals and emotions, but bounty hunters in general were not known for either of them.

As he turned away and looked out the taxi's window at the expanse of sand that was gradually growing darker as the sun continued to sink into the horizon, he wondered if Scarlet was someone he could trust. He was well aware that she might have been playing him and baiting him into a trap; but the price was right for the mission. Honor and justice took precedence over money in his mind, but he hadn't been given the chance at this kind of payout in more than five years.

In addition to the prospect of pocketing such a sizeable paycheck, Fox was immensely intrigued by Scarlet's character. Even though she seemed very harsh on the surface, Fox perceived that he felt a warm, comforting feeling coming from her. It was barely noticeable, but it was there nonetheless. The vixen was a bit on the rough side, yes, but she seemed to have a warm personality hidden somewhere inside of her—or perhaps he was just imagining things. Maybe she was a soulless, violent bounty hunter, after all. Fox quickly glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and admired her curves as she stared out the window on her side of the car.

He felt that he needed to contact General Pepper and update him on the situation in spite of Scarlet's warning, but something about what she had said prevented him from doing so. His finger hovered over the call button while Scarlet stared daggers at him without saying a word. He knew that it was unwise to place his full trust in her, but he was also aware that she was not against him, either. At least, he was _mostly_ sure about it.

He was about to ask her more about the task at hand when the taxi suddenly came to a stop in a specially-marked parking space in the heart of downtown Yaruit. The driver formally exited the vehicle and opened the right rear door to allow Scarlet to exit first. The vixen slid out of the car, followed by Fox, who thanked the driver for his services before he and Scarlet began to walk down the heavily trafficked sidewalk on the way to Scarlet's objective.

Fox had a choice to make. He could either choose to abandon his new acquaintance, or he could help her accomplish a task that he may or may not have been properly equipped to perform. It was almost as if Scarlet knew this as well, because she turned around to face him and asked, "Are you with me on this, Fox?"

Fox gritted his teeth and scowled in indecision. He clenched his fists and tried to listen for his inner voice of reason to speak words of wisdom to him, but nothing came to his mind.

"_The only lead I have on this job is her,"_ he frantically thought,_ "If she really knows what she's doing, I might be able to do something about this nuclear weapon."_

Reluctantly, Fox opened his mouth to speak.

"Yes."

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):_

_The basic idea for The Oasis was born when I contemplated the multitudes of things that were completely wrong with Star Fox Adventures. While a good game, it was not a good STAR FOX game. More like furry Zelda, if you ask me (and many others). The idea with this story was to create a more 'canon-believable' account of what could have happened after SF64. Thus, this story takes the place of Adventures and the Saurian crisis in the Star Fox timeline._


	2. Chapter 2: First Contact

_AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):_

_**ATTENTION:**_

After reviewing constructive feedback from xXSanitariumXx and a certain anonymous guest reviewer regarding the character of Scarlet in Chapter 1, I have gone back and edited some of the dialogue from the second half of the chapter. If you have read Chapter 1 before June 22, 2013, I strongly suggest that you re-read the second part of that chapter before you move on to this one. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. It was better for me to fix it quickly than to wait until the story was halfway done, when it would be too late to repair.

* * *

**Chapter 2: First Contact**

The moments following Fox's decision to assist Scarlet with her task were filled with silence and great uneasiness on Fox's part. The vixen seemed very pleased to have him help her, but Fox still was unsure whether or not he had made a prudent choice. He was already beginning to stray from his mission directives; but if what Scarlet had told him about the situation was true, it was for the better.

The lighted streets around them were filled with cars and motorized vehicles of all varieties, and the clean sidewalk which they were standing on was flooded with an abundance of the city's many residents and visitors. Yaruit was a bustling trade and business center on Tehraia, and a large number of the planet's occupants were not actually citizens. Rather, they were businessmen who held temporary residences in the large city, which was known for its beautiful mixture of esoteric desert architecture and modern design. One enormous tower stood above all the rest. Its black frame was heavily contrasted by the glowing yellow trim that followed the building's every edge and was impossible to ignore, especially at night.

Scarlet tactfully navigated her way through the crowds that walked along the sidewalk, with Fox trying very hard to keep up with her. At the nearest crosswalk, she paused at the edge of the street and waited for Fox before turning to him and asking, "Do you feel like eating something?"

"Sure. Why not?" Fox indifferently replied. A well-appointed restaurant that served popular varieties of the local cuisine was positioned on the corner of the block across the street from the two vulpines; and the instant the light that allowed them to cross the street turned green, Fox and Scarlet quickly walked over to the opposite side of the busy avenue and began to detect the aroma of the restaurant's food.

A good portion of the restaurant was outdoors under a veranda that looked out over Yaruit's main city road. "Let's sit out there," Scarlet suggested.

Fox agreed; and upon reaching the restaurant's articulately designed doors, Fox courteously opened one of them for his associate, who civilly nodded to thank him and proceeded into the restaurant with Fox close behind her. A white tigress who worked as a hostess at the restaurant welcomed Fox and Scarlet and quickly snatched up two menus before she asked Scarlet, "Do you have a seating preference?"

"We'd like to sit outside," the vixen coldly replied, not returning the waitress's kind welcome.

"As you wish." The tigress led the two foxes up a short set of stairs and through the main dining area until they passed through the two heavy, open doors that led to the veranda. The waitress pointed to a small, frosted glass-covered table and placed their silverware and menus on the table as the two vulpines prepared to seat themselves. As she pulled her chair out from under the table, Scarlet quickly looked around the veranda and saw a nearby table occupied by three blue foxes who looked very out of place in the city, which was mainly occupied by felines and reptilians.

Almost with a sense of urgency, Scarlet quickly told the waitress, "Ma'am! We'd like to sit inside instead."

The tigress seemed a bit surprised, but she consented and walked towards the main dining room, where she seated Fox and Scarlet in a booth for two. The tan leather seats in the restaurant were sublimely comfortable. The interior of the building was elegantly decorated with a large number of paper lanterns that hung from the ceilings, along with a large quantity of embossed brass trim that adorned many of the restaurant's surfaces. The wooden table they were seated at was so clean that it could have been eaten off of, and one small candle sat in the middle of it.

The tigress that had seated Fox and Scarlet announced, "Mikhaila will be your waitress tonight. Enjoy your meal," Soon afterwards, she left the two foxes to themselves; and Fox's first order of business was to ask Scarlet why she had suddenly changed her mind about eating outside.

"Scarlet, what was that all about? You looked like you saw a ghost."

"Close enough," she sternly replied. "Did you see those Cerinians at the table near ours?"

Puzzled, Fox said, "I don't know. What's a Cerinian?"

"Oh, that's right—you're not from around here," said Scarlet, correcting herself for assuming that Fox knew about the Cerinian race. "Let me explain—the Cerinians are from a planet in this system called Cerinia. Very few people ever go there. From what I hear, you can leave the planet, but that's only if you can get in. They're very selective in allowing visitors into their planet. Rumor has it that it's the most beautiful place this side of heaven."

"Interesting. So, what does that have to do with your reaction to seeing some of them?" Fox asked, placing his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his paws.

"The blue ones—like that ones at that table—have telepathic abilities. Cerinia is home to a few races, but the blue foxes are definitely the dominant species there. I couldn't risk having them reading my thoughts, so that's why I asked the waitress to seat us in here instead."

A bit taken aback by Scarlet's revelation, Fox asked his comrade, "Don't their abilities make it awkward for them in public?"

Scarlet scratched her muzzle, then answered, "I don't think very many of them ever leave their home planet, and I think they can block each other's thoughts if they want to."

"That's… interesting."

In the next few seconds, a white she-wolf wearing a sleek black dress approached Fox and Scarlet's table and placed a bowl of potato-based crisps onto the wooden surface along with another bowl, which was filled with a steaming hot orange substance that was supposed to be used as dip for the crisps.

"Good evening. I'm Mikhaila," the waitress politely spoke. "What would you like to drink?"

"Water, please," Fox replied.

"And you, ma'am?"

Feeling unsure of what to get, Scarlet asked the lupine, "What are your drink specials right now?"

The waitress happily answered, "We have a special on Scorpion's Tail spiced rum—it's normally five credits per glass, but tonight, it's only three. I have to warn you, though—most people can't handle it."

"Sounds good to me," Scarlet replied with a faint grin.

"All right, then. I'll get you your drinks, and I'll be back to get your meal orders in a few minutes." The waitress sauntered off in the direction of the kitchen as Fox leaned back in his seat and asked, "You like rum? That stuff's nasty."

"You just don't have the stomach for it," Scarlet scornfully remarked. "The stronger, the better—I say."

Fox rolled his eyes and shook his head. Scarlet was an interesting character—that much was for sure. While enjoying the temporary security of the restaurant, the vixen leaned back into the corner of the booth across from Fox and took a deep breath, causing her white coat to fall back slightly. In the process, several firearm components that had been neatly attached to various straps and internal pockets inside the coat became visible to Fox.

Scarlet simply winked at him without showing any signs of emotion as Fox muttered under his breath, "_What did I get myself into?_"

The vulpine glanced around the restaurant, observing its mainly feline denizens and its unique, oriental trappings that added a tasteful, foreign texture to the building. The lupine waitress soon returned, bringing Fox's glass of water and Scarlet's mug of spiced rum with her. The she-wolf placed both drinks down on the table and asked, "Are you ready to order?"

Scarlet coolly answered, "I'll have the filet. Medium well, please."

"All right," said the waitress as she quickly scribbled down Scarlet's order onto the small pad of paper she carried with her. "…And what would you like, sir?"

"I'll have the same thing," Fox replied before the lupine simply wrote a '2' next to Scarlet's request and headed back towards the kitchen. Shortly thereafter, Scarlet leaned back, took a swig of rum, and said, "Why don't you tell me a bit more about yourself, Fox? You look like you've had a few good jobs."

Fox was none too keen on giving away all of his personal information to a vixen he still didn't trust. She hadn't tried anything yet; but for all he knew, she might have been trying to soften him up for the kill, so to speak. He uneasily scratched the back of his head while Scarlet took another sip of her rum and smacked her lips in appreciation of the beverage's harsh taste that she appreciated more than most.

Deciding that he would risk revealing a bit about himself for the sake of possibly gaining slightly more of Scarlet's trust, he explained, "I'm from a planet called Corneria in the Lylat System, and I'm the leader of a mercenary team called Star Fox."

"I thought I recognized you from somewhere," she said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice that led Fox to believe that she wasn't particularly impressed with his achievements. "So, you're the one who took down Andross on Venom?"

"That's me."

"Not too bad—for a Cornerian," she snidely remarked. "How'd you end up all the way out here on Tehraia, anyway?"

Fox replied, "Well, let's just say that things haven't been so good since then. Me and my team are almost broke. My general gave me this job out of sympathy for us so we could earn enough money to keep the _Great Fox_ operational."

"Not a lot of action in Lylat, is there?"

Fox replied, "Not really. It's been pretty dull since the end of the Lylat Wars,"

Scarlet carefully placed her glass of rum on a small cardboard coaster and said, "Where I come from, you'd never have a problem finding a job. Skallis is where all the best mercenaries and bounty hunters eventually end up. I think you'd fit in just fine—eventually."

"That sounds like something Falco would love," Fox opined. "Too bad he's gone now."

"Did something happen to him?" Scarlet asked in a way that showed that she couldn't have cared less about what had happened to the avian pilot.

"Oh, he's probably fine," Fox assured her, "He left the team out of boredom."

"I can't blame him," said Scarlet. "The life of a mercenary without a job is a living hell."

"You can say that again."

Fox decided that he had listened to enough of Scarlet's small talk and decided to change the tone of the conversation. They may have been eating dinner in a restaurant, but that did not change the fact that there was still work to be done elsewhere in the city. In a serious tone of voice, he said, "Alright, Scarlet; let's get to business here. What are we trying to do about this guy you told me about?"

"Business, huh? I'll explain," she replied, taking another sip of rum. "Antoine Carache is the owner of Asgard Industries—one of the two largest corporations on my home planet. According to my boss's intel, he's been coming around here to pay a few visits to the weapons dealer you were sent to investigate. My goal is to kill him. Taking him alive is simply too much of a risk. He's got way too many men behind him."

"How do you plan on doing this?" Fox solemnly asked.

"I was never one for plans," she replied. "I always find a way to get the job done, and this will be no different."

"I wish I had your confidence," said Fox.

"It comes with experience. I've been a bounty hunter since I was 14."

"Fourteen?! Are you kidding me?"

"It was hell at first," she gravely replied. "My first job almost got me killed. Then I found out that twenty people had already failed the mission and that my employer had tricked me into doing a job that was supposed to be more of a death wish than an actual gig. I'll never forget his expression when I came back from that job and told him that I had completed his objective. That bastard thought I would never make it."

Fox shook his head in disbelief and dipped one of his potato crisps into the orange sauce in the bowl in front of him. He unassumingly bit into the light appetizer as Scarlet cracked a sly smile. The vulpine was just about to ask her what she was smiling at, when his mouth suddenly seemed to catch fire. Scarlet pitilessly laughed as he gulped down large quantities of his water, sending a cascade of the clear liquid onto his clothes while he tried to extinguish the raging inferno in his mouth.

"Hot, isn't it?" she remarked, unable to contain her delight after seeing what Fox had just done.

"What is that?!" Fox angrily asked in response.

"I have no idea, Fox," Scarlet replied, still quietly chuckling, "I've learned from experience that anything colored orange is usually bad news. Now, this is how it's done." While Fox watched, she dipped one of the crisps into the orange substance and devoured it in one bite without even flinching. "Not bad," she commented, seemingly completely unaffected by the overly spicy appetizer.

In the next ten minutes, both vulpines' steaks were brought out to them. After thanking Mikhaila—their waitress—both of them indulged in the finely-seasoned cuisine that possessed a unique taste which Fox had never come across in the Lylat System. He watched Scarlet daintily eat her meal, while trying to avoid seeming awkward to his new acquaintance. No one would have been expected to sift through Scarlet's inner persona in less than a day, but Fox was quickly realizing that there were several levels to the bounty hunter seated across from him.

Scarlet certainly didn't look like a bounty hunter. Most of their kind were scarred and battered almost beyond recognition, and they were known to be a harsh group that generally shunned emotions and feelings altogether. The vixen had a glare in her eyes that gave away the fact that she was unafraid and fully confident in her own abilities. She had no wingmen or teammates to help her—she only had herself and her will to survive.

She looked up at Fox as he took another sip of his water and finished his steak. The look in her strong, sapphire-colored eyes was one of supreme confidence; and Fox nervously averted his gaze before she devoured the last morsels of her meal and placed her fork and knife on the plate in front of her.

Fox attempted to guess her age without asking her, because it was never proper to ask a lady for that information. She appeared to be somewhere near his age, although Fox wouldn't have been surprised if she was actually significantly older than him. The vixen quietly sighed as she drank the last drops of alcohol out of her glass of rum before setting it down near the edge of the table. It was all she cared to have for now. Alcohol has a way of revealing what a person is truly like without any mental barriers to place restrictions on what they should and shouldn't do; and because Scarlet wished to keep her true nature well hidden, she knew better than to drink too much.

A minute later, Fox and Scarlet's lupine waitress came back to their table and prepared to hand them their respective meal tickets. She asked Fox, "Is this together, or separate?"

Fox replied, "Separate," but Scarlet quickly spoke up and said, "I'll pick up his tab."

"Alright, ma'am," the waitress politely spoke. "I'll be right back." As the lupine walked away, Fox, wearing a dumbfounded expression, asked his comrade, "Why did you do that? You didn't have to."

"You said you were almost broke, Fox. I decided that I'd help you out a bit," she replied.

"Looks like I owe you one, then."

Scarlet simply shook her head and insisted, "You don't owe me anything. It's called a favor."

* * *

After Scarlet had paid the slightly inflated ticket for their meals, the two vulpines exited the restaurant back into the warm night air of Yaruit. The temperature was still in the upper 70s, but judging from what he knew about desert climes, Fox guessed that the number would only drop until the sun came up again.

The shapely vixen brought Fox across the same crosswalk they had used to walk to the restaurant in the first place; then, she led him down the main city sidewalk for several miles until the teeming crowds on the avenue began to thin out. The portion of the city which they were now in had a slightly darker, more oppressive feel; and Fox presumed that they were moving closer to their target.

Scarlet quickly scanned the area for anyone who might have been watching her before darting into an alleyway with Fox close behind. The vixen crouched behind a dumpster and began to remove the firearm components from the inside of her large, white coat. She quickly and skillfully slid and screwed the various pieces together; and in less than two minutes, she was holding a fully operational plasma rifle, complete with a switchable night vision scope.

"Forgot your weapon?" she condescendingly asked Fox.

"Yeah…"

"No problem," she replied, tossing Fox her sidearm, which he effortlessly caught. The intriguing weapon appeared to be something resembling either a shrunken blaster or an oversized handgun, and an engraving marked "Gaia Corporation, Skallis" was etched into the left side of the weapon.

Next, Scarlet shed her coat and placed it on top of a nearby concrete post that stood up against the backside of the building they were next to. Fox felt his heart jump slightly after seeing his comrade's black outfit that left very little to the imagination. "_Dang… She's perfect," _he thought to himself, almost salivating over Scarlet's highly attractive physical form.

"My face is up here, Fox," she unhappily remarked.

"Oh… um… S…Sorry about that, Scarlet!"

The vixen sarcastically mumbled, "Sure, you are," before changing the tone of her voice and sternly ordering, "Follow my lead. The guys around here are anything but friendly. We'll head to the rooftop overlooking the building where your weapons dealer keeps his business.

"Got it," Fox replied, falling in behind Scarlet and beginning the long walk to the vantage point Scarlet had found the day before.

The shapely female fox slipped out of the alleyway with Fox closely following her movements. Both of them stuck close to the walls of the nearby buildings and attempted to make as little noise as possible. After all this time, Fox finally noticed that Scarlet was not wearing traditional shoes—rather, her catsuit had a pair of latex boots built in to it that enabled her to move around without creating any kind of noticeable noise.

A growing rumbling sound began to grow louder in their ears, and Scarlet began to become wary of what might have been creating it. "Fox! Into that alley!"

Fox silently obeyed and sprinted into the darkened alleyway that flanked the mostly unused industrial street they were following. Both he and Scarlet crouched down and leaned against the nearest wall as the noise began to increase in volume.

Scarlet, who was positioned to Fox's right, cautiously peeked her head up and watched as a large hovercraft carrying a heavy gray container with a winged 'A' emblem on its side thundered past them, sending the myriad pieces of street trash in its path flying all over the narrow downtown road. With a stern expression, she turned to Fox and said, "Carache's definitely here. That container had his company's emblem on it."

The hovercraft turned right at the next intersection without slowing in the least before it disappeared down the street that ran adjacent to the road they had been following. Sticking to the shadows, Scarlet and Fox slipped out of the alleyway and began to follow the route the oversized hovercraft had taken.

The cleanliness of the city's streets and buildings seemed to deteriorate the farther they went from the city's center. Trash of all kinds littered the streets, which were almost completely unused in the darkening hours of the night. Several dim yellow lights partially illuminated the streets, and a few worn-out halogen bulbs attempted to provide light to the derelict, backwater region of the city.

As the two vulpines carefully stepped across another poorly-kept alleyway, Fox thought that he heard something rustling nearby. "_Probably just some more trash. Man, this place is a dump." _He trailed Scarlet by around ten feet at this point. The white fluorescent lamp that partially lit up the surrounding area suddenly burned out as they walked past it; and at that moment, Fox thought he heard the noise again.

"Scarlet, are you hearing anything?"

"No, Fox. What does it sound like?"

Fox gave no response, and as Scarlet turned around to see what was wrong, she was floored by a mangy-looking feline holding a rusty combat knife. The breath was almost completely knocked out of her by her impact with the ground; and as her assailant pressed firmly on her diaphragm, she felt her consciousness slowly beginning to fade out.

In a disturbingly raspy voice, the feline taunted, "My, my—we're going to have some fun with you!"

The mere thought of being abused against her will awakened Scarlet's darkest survival instincts. This was not the first time she had found herself in a situation such as this one; and she was not about to let herself be violated by a group of lowlife criminals. Just as she was about to pass out from being slowly asphyxiated, she forced her mouth upwards and violently bit her attacker's muzzle. The feline released his pressure on her chest and screamed in pain as his mouth began to bleed profusely.

He yelled every form of profanity he knew while he clutched at his wound and tried to stop the bleeding inflicted by the vixen's keen canines. While the criminal was left temporarily disoriented, Scarlet rolled over and pushed herself off the ground, gulping down air as if it was the last time she would ever breathe. The wounded feline reached for his handgun, but before he could brandish it, Scarlet lashed out with a roundhouse kick to his face that caused him to scream even more loudly.

While the feline reeled in pain, Scarlet reversed her combat stance and savagely kicked her assailant in the chest, knocking him backwards to the ground. Without the slightest hesitation, the vixen wrenched the knife out of his paw, pressed her knee into his chest, and rammed the rusty blade into his skull.

"Good riddance," she muttered as she stood up and admired her work. Her macabre finish had left an expression of sheer terror on her former attacker's face; and the fear which he must have felt brought a twisted smile to Scarlet's lips.

"_Now to rescue Fox…"_

She picked her assault rifle up off the pavement, where it had fallen out of her grasp when she was tackled. After checking the weapon for any kind of noticeable damage and finding none, the vixen sprinted into the nearest alleyway in an attempt to find Fox. If the scumbag that attacked her had something akin to rape in mind, she didn't even want to imagine what his companions might do to Fox. As quietly as she possibly could, Scarlet sprinted through the slimy side streets and back alleys until she heard the unmistakable sounds of a scuffle.

The red vixen backed up to the corner of the wall nearest her and peeked her head around the corner to her left, where she saw Fox surrounded by four more feline criminals; all of which were smiling deviously. A slender female cat walked out from among them towards Fox, who was being restrained by a large panther against the alleyway's wall. Without hesitation, the female feline avariciously grasped Fox and aggressively kissed him while slowly rending his shirt with her keen claws. Fox frantically tried to break free from his captors, but the large cat behind him securely held him in place.

Scarlet had seen enough. She felt sick to her stomach at what was happening to Fox; and she felt a wave of guilt wash over her as she crouched behind the wall. This would never have happened if she hadn't asked Fox to assist her in her mission. He would be out enjoying himself on the town—not being molested by a disgusting convict in a dark alley. While she crouched around the corner from him, listening to the revolting sounds emanating from the street behind her, conflicting thoughts ran through her mind; with one side telling her to save her new companion and the other side telling her to abandon him and take the path of least resistance.

"_Shit. Looks like I don't have a choice."_

The vixen clutched her weapon and leapt out from her cover into the middle of the alleyway with her ears pinned back and her teeth bared. Plasma rounds leapt from the muzzle of her assault rifle as two of the feline criminals dropped to the ground almost immediately. The panther holding Fox gave him a powerful shove that pushed him to the pavement, while the female cat that had been physically assaulting him attempted to leap out of the way of Scarlet's fire. However, she was struck in the abdomen by the rapid-fire plasma rounds and dropped dead on the pavement close to where Fox had fallen.

The large panther that had been holding Fox against the wall began to return fire on Scarlet, and several laser bursts flashed past her muzzle as she tried to find some kind of cover. Quickly, she dove behind a set of concrete access stairs and reloaded her weapon to avoid running out of plasma fluid in the heat of battle. The powerful blasts from her aggressor's firearm began to chip away at the stairs that only provided a marginal amount of cover, but she resisted the urge to panic. Slowly, the concrete staircase beside her began to crumble as the panther unloaded round after round of powerful laser fire into it.

Scarlet had two small sticky grenades on her person, but she knew that using one was not an option with Fox in such close proximity to her target. The vixen prepared to temporarily abandon her cover and fire upon the black cat; but before she could move, he heard the feline say, "Come out and drop your weapon, or I'll kill your fox friend!"

"_Damn it! Not another one of these!"_

While frantically searching her mind for a quick solution to the bind she found herself in, she remembered what her boss, mentor, and former lover had told her in the past.

"_There's always a way out of any situation, no matter how impossible it might seem. You might have to dig deep to find it, but it's there. If you can't see it, it means that you're not being creative enough. You have one advantage that I never had—and that advantage is that you're a woman. Your odds of getting out of pinch are way better than mine thanks to that alone."_

From behind the cover of the concrete stairs, the black cat barked, "Hey! I haven't got all day! If I don't see you come out and put your weapon down in the next five seconds, Foxy gets it!"

Scarlet checked her belt for any additional supplies that she might have been carrying and cracked a dry smile after noticing one particular implement that sat above her right hip. The vixen slowly stepped out from behind the set of stairs and gingerly placed her rifle on the ground at her feet. The panther was holding Fox in front of him with his arm wrapped around his neck; and in his other hand, he held the sidearm Scarlet had given to Fox earlier.

Pointing the gun at the vixen, he cruelly laughed, "Ha! Now that you're unarmed, I'll take the pleasure of killing both you _and_ your pathetic friend! That'll teach you not to cross us on our turf!" Several more ominous laughs emanated from his mouth as he tightened his grip on Fox's neck.

Scarlet's expression tightened into an angry scowl as she listened to the feline's threats. Without displaying one iota of fear, she slightly raised her right leg and very sensually stroked her thigh, while her other hand began to pull down on her suit's zipper that started at her neckline. The feline's laughter quickly ceased as his attention was diverted to Scarlet's provocative motions. He watched as the small zipper slowly descended, completely ignoring what the vixen was doing with her other hand. Just before Scarlet's zipper dropped to her breasts, the panther noticed what she was attempting to do; but by then, it was too late.

"Why you!" he roared as a small, black knife blade flashed through the air and caught him in the eye, just barely missing the side of Fox's face in the process. The throwing knife had come so close to Fox that he could actually feel the wind coming off of it as it passed him and struck its target with alarming precision. The black feline dropped to the ground without a sound, leaving Fox standing in the middle of the alleyway, surrounded by the corpses of his fallen assailants.

Picking up her assault rifle and zipping up her bodysuit, Scarlet coolly walked up to Fox and asked, "They didn't hurt you too badly, did they?"

Fox was clearly very shaken up by what he had been subjected to. The disgusting romantic session he had just been part of caused him to feel injured on a deep, personal level; almost like his internal being had been violated. Obviously scarred from the rapid succession of events, he replied, "I…I'm fine."

As emotionless as she wanted to seem, Scarlet was evidently perturbed by what had happened to Fox. She held herself accountable for what he had been subjected to, because none of it would have happened if she had not persuaded him to tag along with her.

"I'm sorry, Fox," she angrily replied, furious with herself for allowing Fox to fall into harm's way. "It's my fault for dragging you into this in the first place. I shouldn't have asked you to come with me. Please, go back to the hotel. I'll finish the job without you. Don't worry—I'll be fine."

Firmly, Fox replied, "I'm not going anywhere, Scarlet. This is too important for me to sit out on."

Scarlet glanced back at him with a conflicted frown before she quietly growled and said, "Fine. So be it."

With the band of criminals dead and no longer of any concern, Scarlet and Fox left the filthy back alley and resumed their investigation of the area outside the center of Yaruit.

* * *

Following the harrowing episode of being attacked by a criminal gang in one of the darkest boroughs of Yaruit, the two vulpines were much more careful to scan their surroundings. Neither of them had been significantly hurt in the scuffle, although Fox was emotionally scarred from being kissed against his will. He repeatedly spit onto the pavement near his feet, trying to rid his mouth of the feline's foul taste.

The area of the city which they were now in was almost completely silent—almost worryingly so. The streets seemed to be noticeably cleaner than the ones they had followed up to this point, and very little trash could be found on them. Not only were they mostly free of debris, but they also sported newer pavement that sharply contrasted with the faded, dark gray asphalt of the slums they had just exited.

Scarlet whispered, "Follow my lead," and quickly sprinted across the empty street to the back side of a tall warehouse building. Fox followed his vixenly comrade, who stopped at the base of a thin, metallic service ladder that led to the roof of the building. Scarlet confidently gripped the flimsy ladder and began the three-story climb to the warehouse's roof. Fox would have waited for her to reach the top before he attempted to do the same, but Scarlet motioned for him to stay close behind her.

The small, aluminum ladder seemed to shake in his paws as he grabbed onto its rails and slowly pulled himself up towards the roof. He looked up and saw that Scarlet was already far ahead of him and currently in the process of pulling herself onto the roof while he had only scaled the ladder to the second floor. Slowly and with a great amount of trepidation, Fox continued to climb until he reached the roof, where Scarlet offered him her paw and helped him onto the gravely surface on top of the warehouse.

The vixen very quietly explained, "Stay down. If they see us, we're done for." Both vulpines crouched down and slowly moved across the roof of the warehouse until they were able to clearly view another warehouse building, which was protected by two armed guards. There were certainly many more inside the structure, but Scarlet knew that this was to be expected. Quietly, the vixen lowered herself into a prone position overlooking the edge of the roof, and Fox followed her movements.

"Is that where the weapons dealer keeps his shop?" Fox asked.

"Yes," Scarlet whispered in reply. "I'm trying to see if I can see anything related to Carache from up here. That hovercraft transport we saw earlier was definitely his." In the streets below them, both foxes noticed a long, black car driving towards the dimly-lit warehouse where the two guards were standing with their weapons at attention. Fox's weapon had no scope, which denied him the ability to clearly see the vehicle's occupants as they exited the vehicle. However, the night vision scope on Scarlet's assault rifle was more than capable of providing her with an accurate view of the scene below.

A tall, iguana-like creature dressed in a suit and tie stepped out of the black car and calmly strode up to the warehouse's front door without so much as acknowledging the security guards on duty. Only able to partially observe what was going on due to his distance from the building, Fox asked Scarlet, "Is that him?"

Scarlet angrily shook her head and replied, "No. It's a decoy. Carache knows that he's a wanted man, and he would _never_ go in by the front door like that. Chances are that he was in the hovercraft that passed us earlier."

Somewhat impatiently, Fox asked, "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Be patient, Fox," Scarlet snapped, still keeping the volume of her voice to a minimum. "I'm trying to figure it out."

Using her rifle's scope, the vixen surveyed the area around the warehouse and quickly took notice of an open patch of concrete to the left side of the building. Two heavy hovercrafts were docked on the side of the warehouse and seemed to be in the process of unloading the contents of the large, metal containers which they were hauling.

To the left of the concrete pad was a group of overgrown palm trees and shrubs; and on the right side, the plant growth was even more untamed. "_Perhaps if there was some kind of back entrance…_" The presence of another palm grove quickly terminated the possibility of a rear door, and Scarlet was beginning to become peeved.

With a frown, she looked over at Fox and whispered, "We're going to have to get creative if we want to get in there; but there's nothing we can do about it tonight. I'll tell my boss about the situation and try to come up with something." She slowly rolled over from her prone position and sat up on the roof before telling Fox, "I don't know about you, but I'm going back to the hotel to get some sleep."

"I think I'm going to do the same thing," he quietly replied.

Fox and Scarlet slowly climbed down from the roof and began to retrace their steps back to where their trail had begun. With both of their weapons armed and held at the ready, they cautiously slunk through the dimly-lit streets, keeping their eyes and ears open for any unfriendly surprises. Eventually, both of them safely returned to the area where Scarlet had left her white coat, which was still positioned on top of the concrete post she had placed it on more than an hour ago.

The temperature had declined significantly and was now in the upper 60s; and the wind coming off the rapidly cooling desert sands sent a light chill through the air. Fox watched with jealousy as Scarlet wrapped the soft coat around herself before disassembling her rifle and placing its various components back into their respective slots inside her long jacket. With a faint, terse smile, she said, "Play time's over, Fox. Give me my gun back." She motioned for Fox to hand over his borrowed sidearm, and he willingly complied with her demand.

After buttoning her coat and completely concealing every trace of the weapons she was carrying, the vixen placed a call to the Oasis using her wrist-mounted communications interface that was remarkably similar to Fox's. The line rang several times before the voice of the hotel's female receptionist was broadcasted into the night air around Fox and Scarlet. "Good evening. How may I direct your call?"

Trying to sound dignified, Scarlet answered, "I need a ride back from 3rd Avenue in downtown Yaruit."

"I can arrange that. What is the name on your reservation?"

"Amanda Morrison," she said in response to the operator.

"Nice name," Fox quietly remarked as Scarlet quickly raised a finger to her lips and angrily stared at him for making such a comment in the middle of her call.

The receptionist searched for the name Scarlet had used to identify herself at the hotel before speaking, "Very well, Miss Morrison. A shuttle will arrive at the corner of 3rd and 6th in exactly 32 minutes. Thank you for your patronage. Good evening."

"Good evening to you, too."

Immediately after the communications line closed, Fox keenly asked Scarlet, "Is that your name? Amanda Morrison?"

For reasons unbeknown to Fox, Scarlet seemed to react very negatively to his innocent question. "No, Fox. It's just an alias. My name's Scarlet—just Scarlet."

Fox knew that she was being insincere. Her lack of a last name or family title indicated to him that she was closely guarding her true identity. He wasn't sure why this was, but he knew that she wished to keep her true name to herself and only herself. In the meantime, he made a mental note to never ask her about her name again.

"Come on, Fox," he heard her say to him as she began to walk back towards downtown Yaruit.

* * *

A brisk stroll back into the heart of the large metropolis brought the two vulpines to a bus stop at the intersection where the car from the hotel was scheduled to pick them up. Scarlet quickly glanced at her watch and sighed. It would be ten more minutes until the black chauffer car would arrive. The vixen slowly leaned back on the harsh bench and lightly yawned. It had been a long day for her, but not near as long of a day as it had been for Fox. He had started the day by receiving a job offer from General Pepper; and in the ensuing hours, he had met a bounty hunter who could have easily passed as a model, eaten at a five-star restaurant, been told that his mission was null and void, and then been attacked and molested by a group of inner-city criminals. He would definitely not forget about this day for quite some time.

Still, it could have been worse. According to Scarlet, if he had found out that the Yaruitian weapons dealer was concocting nuclear devices before contacting General Pepper to alert him to their existence, something terrible would happen. He quickly glanced over at the sultry vixen seated next to him and wondered if she was someone he could trust. Generally speaking, he never trusted other mercenaries—let alone bounty hunters. However, something was different about her. She had a heart somewhere inside of her, unlike most of her kind. He had seen it when she had rescued him from the criminal gang that was accosting him. For just one moment, she had become vulnerable; and Fox was able to see that she was capable of caring. The fact that her mere appearance was enough to immediately arouse his masculine instincts wasn't helping much, either.

Fox watched the traffic drive by from both directions while he sat next to Scarlet and thought about what he was going to tell Peppy and Slippy about his mission progress. They would both want to know how he was doing; not only because they cared about his well-being, but also because any progress in the mission meant they were that much closer to earning their first paycheck in months.

Out of the corner of his eye, Fox noticed the three blue foxes Scarlet had pointed out to him earlier and was immediately intrigued by them. The two males were dressed in elegant formal suits, and the one vixen was wearing a short, white dress.

"_Telepaths, huh? I wonder what it would be like to be one of them," _he thought. Much to his shock, as they passed, the vixen of the group looked his way and happily said, "It's wonderful, friend."

Fox couldn't help but smile back as the trio of Cerinians slowly walked away from them down the sidewalk. He observed the lovely blue vixen kindly patting the back of the vulpine that appeared to be her husband; and deep inside, Fox began to feel a longing for a mate of his own.

He was drawn to Scarlet, if only because her appearance managed to arouse his masculine instincts after just one glance. However, he knew that she would dominate him in a relationship if he ever entered into any form of romance with her. The vixen seemed to like him for some reason, although he still wondered if he was being played by her. She was certainly not past doing such a thing.

After several more minutes, the black car from the Oasis pulled up to the curb. The tiger who was driving the vehicle precisely exited the driver's seat, walked around the car, and courteously opened the back door for Fox and Scarlet, who gratefully thanked him and scooted into the vehicle's comfortable back seat. The long drive back to the resort was very quiet; and when Fox glanced over at Scarlet after looking out at the darkened desert outside the car, he found that she was sound asleep.

He smiled while looking at the beautiful red vixen's sleeping form and returned his attention to himself and the decision he would have to make very soon. He mentally wrestled with himself about what he would say to Peppy when he called him. He would only be able to stall for so long before General Pepper would become frustrated with his lack of progress on the mission and send in someone else to investigate the possibility of nuclear weapons being kept on Tehraia. When that happened… well, Fox didn't want to think about what would happen as a result of a Cornerian special ops team blasting their way into a storehouse containing potentially catastrophic ordnances.

Scarlet's quiet breathing and the almost silent road noise from the chauffer car were the only sounds that Fox could hear as the vehicle began to approach the distant towers of the Oasis resort. Fox's mind wandered to the thoughts of his luxurious room and its large swimming pool that he had planned to dive into when he returned from Yaruit. After the long day he had endured, nothing would feel better than a relaxing swim before climbing into a bed that would have been fit for a king and falling asleep without a worry in the world.

The chauffer car eventually reached the large hotel and pulled into the parking garage, where the chameleon on duty opened the back door as Scarlet woke up and groggily stepped out of the car, followed by Fox. Both vulpines walked through the hotel's main lobby to the elevators and quickly traveled to the 28th floor where both of their rooms waited for them. Completely exhausted from their day, Fox and Scarlet slid their respective key cards into their doors' card readers and opened them. Just before she closed her door, Scarlet sleepily said, "Goodnight, Fox."

Fox simply smiled before replying, "Good night, Scarlet. Sleep well."

Now enshrined in his own suite that managed to top every other place he had ever resided in, Fox closed his door behind him and pulled off his clothes before sliding into the warm pool in the middle of the tiled floor. Being able to stay in a place like this while on the job was almost unheard of, and he was determined to drink in every minute of it before it ended. He floated in the pool for a few minutes before swimming out to the balcony area overlooking the desert below and lazily resting his arms on the balcony's metallic railings. The light pollution in the middle of the desert was virtually nonexistent; and millions of stars could clearly be seen in the night skies above the cool desert.

A single shooting star raced across the skies, its bright yellow light reminding Fox of the time he had spent with his father and mother when he was no more than a young fox kit. He remembered the nights when he would sit on his father's shoulders and make wishes as the flashes of light streaked across the heavens. Almost every time a shooting star came, he would make a wish that he could be just like his father.

Now that he truly had taken his father's place in his exact line of work, he realized how naïve he had been at the time. When he was only ten, he could never have known that his father's work was often life-threatening and very difficult; but even in hindsight, he never regretted the choices that had brought him to where he was now—standing in a warm pool of water in a sumptuous hotel room, looking out over the vast, unspoiled expanse of desert while watching a shooting star fly across the skies. Things couldn't get much better than this.

…Except that it wasn't a shooting star at all.

Fox quickly realized that something was horribly wrong. Instead of eventually burning out in Tehraia's atmosphere, the flash of yellow light continued to glow until it vanished at ground level. It was not long before Fox realized what he had just witnessed. Something had crashed in the desert several miles from the hotel. He stayed in place for five more minutes, waiting for someone to do something about it; but it appeared that he had been the only one to see it.

_"Am I losing my mind?"_

Fox quickly climbed out of the pool and shook out his fur before dressing himself and leaving his room. He half expected to find Scarlet out in the hallway, but she was comfortably locked away in her room, enjoying the solace and comfort of the magnificent dwelling. The vulpine quickly walked to the hotel's elevator and rode it down to the lobby level. The atrium area was eerily quiet, and the only occupant was the tigress receptionist behind the check-in counter.

To make sure he hadn't been seeing things, he asked her, "Did anyone tell you anything about a shooting star?"

The tigress gave him a strange glance that immediately told him that she thought he was out of his mind for asking such a trivial and childish question. "Oh… well, thanks…" he muttered, now completely embarrassed at himself for even bothering to ask. However, he _knew_ what he saw. He saw a ship crash in the desert, and he was determined to find out more about it. Perhaps if the crew had survived and he was able to help them, he would be able to pocket a few credits for his services.

He would have liked to take his Arwing out to the crash site, but the hotel had several restrictions on air and spacecraft use after 9:00 P.M.; and because it was 11:45, he would have to go out on foot. As he exited the large, ornate front doors of the resort and walked along the side of the road that led from the hotel towards Yaruit, he once again wondered if he was being delusional. He should have been resting up in preparation for tomorrow; but here he was, walking into the desert to investigate a downed spacecraft that no one else had even seen.

His blaster was still in his Arwing to prevent any 'issues' with hotel weapons regulations; and as it was, he was unarmed except for a decently-sized combat knife which he always carried with him. He didn't see being mostly unarmed as much of a concern, but deserts were often unpredictable. His thoughts temporarily leapt back to Titania during the Lylat Wars. That mission was a debacle in every sense of the word. The only reason he had even traveled to the dusty desert planet was because Slippy had been shot down and needed to be rescued. In the process of saving his team's clumsiest member, he had risked his life against Andross's desert forces and braved the giant creature that had captured Slippy. Even now, the thought of that mission brought a scowl to his face as he trekked through the soft, thick sands of the Tehraian Greater Desert.

He could not see where the alien ship had crash-landed, but he knew that he was moving in the right direction—or at least he _believed_ that he knew where he was going. There was nothing to give him a sense of direction other than his wrist-based compass, which wasn't of much use because he hadn't bothered to compare his visual bearings with the magnetic pull of Tehraia's poles. Seeing a particularly large sand dune, he slowly forced his way up the sizeable hill of sand until he was able to stand at its peak.

About a half mile from his position was the wreckage of a medium-sized transport ship of a kind he had never seen before. The ship was painted in a shade of matte black, and several small flames were still burning near its engines long after the craft had violently collided with the ground. Fox saw two figures sprawled out on the ground and quickly sprinted down the other side of the sand dune to help them in any way he could. That is—if they were still alive. The odds of surviving a fiery crash such as this one were very slim.

His heavy boots kicked up healthy doses of the soft desert sand as he ran, and as he neared the downed transport ship, he noticed that both of the incapacitated passengers were blue vulpine females. Quickly, he sprinted toward the first of the two and dropped to his knees in front of her. The vixen helplessly looked up at him with a pair of yellow eyes that seemed to grow dimmer with each second. Fox noticed that her breathing was slowly becoming fainter, and he realized that she was not going to live much longer.

"P…Please… take care of her…" the vixen weakly murmured. "Her…mother…needs her."

Fox carefully attempted to mop up the blood seeping out of the noticeable puncture wound to the right of her eye, but the vixen feebly pushed his arm away and cried, "Don't try to save me! She needs you!"

Fox gave up trying to argue with her and stood up. As he caught a glimpse of the vixen which the dying blue fox had told him to protect, he felt a wave of grief sweep through him. She was lying face down in the sand, with her blue flight suit badly seared from the heat generated in the crash landing. Several holes had been burned in her clothing, the most noticeable of which was a gaping tear on her lower back area. Sand from the desert was caked onto her both her clothing and fur.

A portion of her suit had been fused with her fur just below her tail, which was accented with three cloth-like wraps that kept her thick brush from becoming unruly. Fox knelt next to her, checked her pulse, and found the she was alive; although just barely so. She was not bleeding, but she was completely unconscious. Her breathing was very faint, and every time she drew a breath and then exhaled, a quiet whimper would escape from her delicate mouth.

Pitying the blue vixen, who appeared to be only two inches shorter than him, he carefully rolled her over and lifted her off the sand. She was not too heavy for him to carry, although he would have to walk a good five miles to make it back to the Oasis, all while holding her. The vulpine placed his left paw under her neck, while his other hand rested under the blue vixen's soft legs.

Before setting off for the hotel, he scanned the surroundings for anyone or anything else he may have missed. However, it seemed that the vixen he was carrying had been the only survivor. The yellow-eyed vulpine female that he had just talked with had already given up her ghost and now lay silently on the desert sands.

A black suitcase was lying in the sand close to where Fox had found the vixen he was holding, and he decided that it wouldn't hurt to take a look inside and see what it contained. He gently lowered the cerulean vixen to the desert ground and unzipped the wheeled suitcase, which sported a tag with a form of alien glyphic print on it. Just below it, the name 'Krystal' was printed in the Lylatian language. Flipping open the top compartment of the travel bag, Fox found what appeared to be the vixen's elaborate jewelry. He also noticed that her spare clothes had also been packed away inside, and he knew that she would want them if she returned to a state of consciousness.

It would be difficult to carry both the vixen and her bag, but Fox knew that he needed to do it. Trying to be gentle, he picked up the beautiful fox and threw her onto his right shoulder. She groaned slightly, but remained unconscious while Fox carefully picked up her suitcase and carried it with his left paw. Fortunately, she had not packed too heavily.

Fox slowly struggled through the cool sand dunes as the temperature plunged into the lower 50s. The wind seemed to have a cruel agenda as it whistled around the vulpine and chilled him to the bone through the gaps in his torn shirt, which had been ruined by the over-eager feline criminal who had provided him with a series of unwelcome kisses. The weight of his baggage seemed to increase exponentially the farther he went, and by the time he reached the front doors of the hotel, he felt like he was about to collapse onto the ground.

Setting down the vixen's suitcase, Fox pried open one of the main doors of the hotel and wearily stepped inside. The lobby inside the doors was completely deserted. The front desk was open at all times regardless of any foreseeable situation, but the receptionist was away from her post as Fox walked past the counter, carrying the blue vixen on his shoulder. With his strength almost gone, Fox lugged the vulpine female onto the elevator and pressed the '28' button. The delicate vixen seemed to whimper once again as the elevator quickly shot up before arriving at its destination on Fox's floor. Thankfully, no one else had needed to use the elevator at the same time as him.

Slowly, Fox left the elevator area and shuffled towards his room, which he opened with his key card before stepping inside and closing the door behind him. He had made it back to his room with the sole survivor of the wreck in the desert that only he had witnessed, but that was only half of the battle. He placed the vixen's suitcase against the room's left wall before kicking off his boots, which were now filled with sand from the desert. Not wasting any time, he pulled off the vixen's tall, blue shoes, carried her over to his bed, and lovingly tucked her in for the night.

She looked so beautiful and innocent with her head buried in the downy pillows of Fox's hotel bed, with her injured and burned body tenderly enshrouded in the soft, comfortable sea of silk bedsheets. In a way, she seemed to fit in perfectly with the splendorous trappings of Fox's suite almost like she was another decoration. Her face, her perfectly formed muzzle, her beautifully-trimmed hair, and the elegant jewels she wore on her forehead all gave her an appearance befitting a member of a royal line.

Fox simply stood at the foot of the luxurious king bed, staring at the enigmatic stranger who had literally fallen from the skies. Her near-regal beauty was completely unlike that of Scarlet's. The bounty hunter's attractive qualities caused a fiery desire for erotic passion to well up inside of Fox; but he felt no such feelings as he looked at the sleeping Cerinian. Her beauty was of a deep, soulful variety that Fox found himself unable to accurately describe. It was much more than skin deep, to be sure.

He was beyond tired, and he was ready to turn in for the night; but he knew that he had to contact Peppy and give him an update on the mission. A sick feeling came to his stomach as he contemplated the reality that he would have to bluff to his closest friend and mentor—the man he considered his adopted father.

With his head held low, Fox slowly walked along the edge of his room's swimming pool and stepped out onto the wide, open balcony. As the wind whistled through his fur, he dialed Peppy's extension and was quickly put in contact with the elderly hare.

"Hey there, Fox. How's it going down there? Do you like the hotel?"

"It's great, Peppy," he warmly replied. "Listen, about the mission…"

"Yes, Fox—what about it?"

He deeply sighed and quickly pondered the two replies he had available. Either way, things would turn ugly somewhere down the road. If he lied to Peppy, he would put a rift in the middle of his friendship with the hare; and if he told the truth, the Cornerian Army would arrive and possibly decimate the entire city of Yaruit. He recalled what Scarlet had told him just five hours ago, and her words only added more fuel to his raging mental fire.

_"Don't call your general. If your people show up here, all hell's going to break loose."_

He had to make his decision at that very moment.

Uneasily, he replied, "…The mission is going well. I think I've got a lead on the weapons dealer."

"Great job, Fox!" said Peppy, congratulating him on his rapid progress with the mission. "Keep it up, and we'll have enough money to repair the _Great Fox _in no time!" He briefly paused before finishing, "Good luck, Fox. Have a good night."

"You too, Peppy."

The instant Peppy's voice faded away into the cold night air of Tehraia, Fox's temporary smile was replaced with a frown. He felt sick inside with the feeling that can only come from the betrayal of a friend. What was supposed to be a simple, straightforward investigation had turned into something far greater; and Fox didn't know where to turn to for guidance. Neither Scarlet nor Peppy could be fully trusted; and while he didn't want to place his security in a roguish bounty hunter that he barely knew, he was completely aware of what would happen if he were to tell Peppy the truth about his situation.

With his mind and stomach both in knots, Fox wandered back to his bed and turned off the room's lights before climbing into bed, fully clothed for the sake of the vixen slumbering to his left. He was loathe to admit it, but he wanted to make a good first impression on her when she awoke. Rescuing her from the crash in the desert was a good first step. After taking one last, long look at the delicate blue Cerinian, he allowed his head to fall back into his soft, plushy pillow before he quickly drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: A Bittersweet Awakening

**Chapter 3: A Bittersweet Awakening**

As Fox slowly awoke after a night of deep, relaxing sleep, he opened his eyes to the sight of the rich Tehraian sunlight pouring into the room and casting its brilliant radiance onto the swimming pool in the center of the tiled floor. The sound of the desert wind could be clearly heard as it whistled through the permanently opened balcony. Yawning slightly, Fox sat up in bed and glanced at the sleeping Cerinian next to him. He had only intended to look at her for a moment, but he felt his gaze drawn to her the way a magnet is drawn to iron.

He was unable to pull his eyes off of the vixen's slumbering form as she slept. The sand-colored bedsheets came up to her neck and closely traced the outlines of her body while she repetitively inhaled and exhaled the fresh desert air, creating a quiet, almost indiscernible sigh with every breath. Her head was tilted sideways on her pillow; and if her eyes had been open, she would have been looking directly at Fox. For the moment, the vulpine simply watched her breathe. Everything about the vixen seemed to radiate an esoteric beauty that enveloped the space around him and completely enthralled his emotions— so much, in fact, that he realized that he was experiencing a mild euphoric high from merely being around her.

Her right paw was held out towards him with her palm facing up, almost begging for someone to reach out and hold it; and it was all Fox could do not to fondle her soft, blue digits and slowly trace his way up her arm all the way to her delicate muzzle. "What am I thinking?" he whispered to himself, mentally kicking himself for his thoughts while trying to avoid waking the Cerinian. Gently and quietly, he slid out of bed and turned around to look at the vixen once again._ "Just one more look won't hurt…"_

Two minutes later, Fox left his bedchamber and picked up his duffel bag, which contained his spare clothes. Taking it into his closet and closing the door behind him, he changed out of his dusty, damaged attire and slipped into a light pair of red pants and a taut-fitting, black t-shirt that would hopefully be more suited for the heat of Tehraia than his outfit from the day before.

Wrapping his soft, red scarf around his neck, he left his closet and walked back towards his bedside, watching the sun's rays cascading off the water of the swimming pool. He would have liked to dive in, but he hadn't brought any kind of appropriate swimwear for himself; and as such, he didn't want to be humiliated if the vixen woke up and found him swimming naked. That would not be a good way to make a good first impression on her.

Before entering his bedchamber to check on the Cerinian, he walked over to her suitcase and opened it, checking the bag for any clothes he could place on the bed for her to change into. He dug through her clothes, awkwardly pulling out a pair of light pink undergarments for her before finding a white loincloth, of all things, neatly folded underneath a pair of blue pants alongside a copper-colored metallic bra. His mouth began to salivate as he pictured the blue Cerinian wearing the scant outfit, and he strongly considered placing it on the bed for her to change into when she awoke.

Fox realized that if the vixen woke up to find him looking through the contents of her suitcase, it would be almost as embarrassing as if she found him swimming in the nude; but regardless of this, he continued to check her bag for anything of interest. Trying to keep her clothes neatly folded, he pulled them out of the suitcase and placed them on the ground next to the tribal outfit he had found earlier. At the bottom of the black suitcase was a small, zipped bag containing the vixen's hygienic products; and to the left of it was… a stick?

The vulpine curiously snatched up the intriguing item, which seemed to be in a collapsed form. He noticed a button on the main shaft, which was decorated with a series of glyphic prints that matched those on the tag attached to the suitcase. Not wanting to make any noise, he pressed the button, causing the item to extend to its full length. It was then that he realized that he was holding a combat staff of some kind. It was made of a sturdy, lightweight metal that enabled the weapon to be effortlessly hefted and twirled; and there seemed to be a form of power cell on the blunt end of the weapon. At the moment, it was fully charged and ready for use, although Fox knew better than to try it out indoors when its owner was sleeping less than thirty feet from him.

Intrigued by the mysterious weapon, he collapsed it and placed it back in the bag the way he had found it. He selected a set of pink underwear, a white shirt, and a pair of light aquamarine-colored pants for the vixen to wear; and after returning to his bedchamber, he neatly placed the clothing items next to the sleeping vixen on the bed, where she would be sure to see them when she awoke. After Fox had put down her clothes, his eyes once again drifted over to the blue vixen's beautifully formed face as she let out a heavy breath and quietly groaned. In seconds, her soft, aquamarine eyes slowly fluttered open; and she awoke from her sleep with a small, adorable yawn.

She quietly whimpered a faint "hmm?" sound and sat upright in the bed after noticing that Fox was looking at her. The orange vulpine had thought of nearly everything he could have said to her when she awoke; but in the heat of the moment, his mind went blank, leaving him completely unable to form words.

Weakly, the vixen asked him, "Where am I?" Her voice was tinged with pain, and it occurred to Fox that she was still probably very sore from the crash the night before.

"You're in my room in the Oasis resort on Tehraia," he softly replied.

The vixen frowned in pain and confusion, without the slightest idea of how she had arrived here. The last thing she remembered was a sudden impact that struck her ship; and after that, she only remembered the color black. Her friend who had been accompanying her on her journey was nowhere to be found, and her ship was gone. Frantically trying to find something that would bring her memories back to her, she looked around Fox's room and noticed her opened suitcase along with the clothes that Fox had laid out for her.

"Did you do all of this for me?" she feebly asked Fox while sliding back into a sleeping position under the covers.

In hopes that the vixen would appreciate him for his kindness, Fox awkwardly replied, "Um… yeah… I did."

Still lost and confused, the Cerinian examined the clothes Fox had placed beside her on the bed and softly said, "Thank you, my friend." She then paused and asked Fox, "Do you mind leaving for a few minutes? I want to take off this dreadful flightsuit." Noticing the swimming pool forty feet in front of her, she stopped Fox as he was preparing to close the bedchamber's privacy curtain and asked him, "Are my swimming clothes in my suitcase? Can you bring them to me, please?"

Fox's heart rate climbed noticeably after hearing her request as he anxiously bent over next to her suitcase and looked for something resembling a bikini. However, it was not until he came up empty-handed that he realized what she meant by 'swimming clothes.'

_"Oh man…"_

He quickly held up the loincloth he had found earlier and asked her, "Is this what you wanted?"

"Yes! Thank you!"

The orange vulpine presented the skimpy attire to the bedridden vixen, who thanked him and slowly climbed out of bed before realizing how badly her clothing had been damaged. "I'll be outside if you need me," Fox anxiously said, pulling the privacy curtain shut so that she could change into her swimming clothes without any unwanted intrusions.

The Cerinian slowly slid out of her flight suit and tossed the ruined garment onto Fox's bed without a care as she noticed her reflection on a large mirror that hung on the bedchamber's left wall. She carefully looked herself over and scoured her fur for any burns or noticeable injuries and found surprisingly few. It was nothing short of a miracle that she had escaped with only minor injuries, and she felt indebted to someone or something that she had not been injured more seriously. The crash had only left her with a few painful bruises, a generous headache, and a solitary burn on her left thigh where her flame-retardant flightsuit had failed to protect her from the fires created during her ship's uncontrolled descent into Tehraia's atmosphere.

Feeling that a quick morning swim would help her overcome her aches and pains, she pulled on her white loincloth and attached the copper-colored top that accompanied it. The outfit was somewhat different from what she and the other residents of Cerinia normally wore, and it was most often worn while sleeping or while bathing publicly in Cerinia's many natural springs.

Before she opened the privacy curtain and stepped out into the open, tiled chamber outside, she thought about the fox who had brought her to his room. She had initially been wary of his intentions, but a quick glimpse into his mind alleviated her worries and proved to her that he had only the best in mind for her well-being. The blue vixen was perplexed by this because the elders of her Cerinian order had always warned her that offworlders were corrupt, lustful, selfish people who would only abuse her and take interest in her only because of her uncommon beauty. However, her host was not like this. The vixen could tell that he was attracted to her, but she knew that he could be trusted. He had already slept by her side and kept watch over her in the early hours of the morning—even going as far as to bring fresh clothes to her before she woke up.

It had been a small miracle that she had even been granted permission to leave her home planet in the first place. As a girl of only 19, she was still naïve and not completely sure of herself. She had only been allowed to embark on a week-long vacation because her friend Jasmine had offered to travel with her and provide her with advice and protection from any harm.

As she tugged at the beige curtain granting her privacy, she wondered what had become of Jasmine. From a young age, the yellow-eyed vixen had been her closest friend and associate. Even though she was only two years older than her, Jasmine had been her mentor and had taught her as much about life, love, and reason as she possibly could in the 19 years she had known her. The blue vixen shed a solitary tear for her friend, knowing that she most likely had not survived the night.

"She was the one who deserved to live, not me," she sadly mused, wondering why she had survived while her friend had died. "She had a future, unlike me… I never amounted to anything."

On the other side of the curtain, Fox had seated himself on the edge of the stone spa tub that was positioned in the middle of the entrance to the swimming pool. While the vixen—Krystal, if he remembered correctly—dressed herself, he thought about the miraculous circumstances behind her survival. Just like her, he knew that escaping from a crash such as hers was very unlikely; and he wondered if there was a reason that she had survived.

He quickly realized that Krystal's entrance into his life would certainly complicate things with Scarlet. The red vixen despised Cerinians due to their telepathic abilities, and he worried that the presence of the blue vixen would tear his developing friendship with Scarlet apart. More than that, though—it could possibly endanger his mission and spark a chain reaction that would have the potential to spiral out of control very quickly. However, Krystal's friend's dying wish had been for him to take care of her; and there was no way he was going to abandon the most innocently beautiful fox he had ever laid eyes on.

Soon, Krystal emerged from behind the curtain and stepped out onto the black-tiled central chamber, wearing the scant clothing she had requested. Fox attempted to remain respectful by resisting the urge to stare at her curvaceous body; and it took every ounce of restraint in him not to gawk at her as she walked up to him and seated herself beside him on the stone rim of the spa tub.

The vixen didn't seem to mind his occasionally-lustful thoughts about her—in fact, the vulpine's nervous and impulsive thought patterns brought a faint smile to her somber face. She turned her head to look at Fox as their eyes met for the first time in such close proximity to each other; and she masterfully concealed a giggle as she sensed Fox's increasing thought activity and his elevated heart rate. Attempting to play off of his thoughts, she suggestively turned her body towards him and sweetly asked, "What's your name, friend?"

"Fox," he nervously replied. "Your name's K…Krystal, right?"

A bit taken aback by his knowledge of her name, she asked him, "How did you know?"

"I read the tag on your suitcase."

_"Oh, of course…"_

The blue vixen turned around and slowly lowered herself into the warm water of the tub behind her, taking a deep breath and allowing herself to fully relax for the first time since she had awakened to find Fox staring at her while she lay in bed. It was still apparent that she was distressed about the loss of her closest friend, but Fox's presence seemed to partially alleviate her grief. The vast majority of the time, Krystal attempted to block foreign thought patterns to prevent any unwanted emotions from entering her mind. However, she enjoyed listening in on Fox's internal conversations with himself.

_"Man, she's gorgeous. I'd love to… NO! STOP IT! She's probably listening to me right now!"_

Krystal's back was turned to Fox, but the vulpine was easily able to hear her giggle behind him as she listened to his impulsive thoughts regarding her. With a sweet, gentle smile, the vixen turned around and partially pulled herself out of the water, resting her elbows on the stone rim next to Fox.

"Don't be so tense, Fox. I don't mind it," she kindly said to him. Fox breathed a quiet sigh of relief, but he was still determined to keep his thoughts on a tight rein. Trying to provide himself with a distraction to keep from staring at her, Fox asked the vixen, "How do you know my language? It's not native on your planet, is it?"

Krystal dropped down into the water and then floated on her back as she answered, "I had to learn it before I was allowed to leave Cerinia." She paused and comfortably closed her eyes while still floating in the water in an attempt to flee from the oppressive thoughts and emotions that threatened to stifle her enthusiasm for life. "What do you do, Fox?" she calmly asked, "Are you a soldier?"

"I suppose," he answered, trying to avoid using the 'M' word that had a way of turning most people away and lowering their opinions of him. Uneasily, he continued, "Most people would call me a mercenary." He hated the way the last word awkwardly stumbled off of his tongue as he said it. He knew that Krystal would despise him now that she knew that he was a soldier of fortune—a hired gun—a bloodthirsty killer with only a heart for money.

However, the vixen simply smiled and rested her arms on the tub rim next to Fox with an innocent expression on her lovely face. "You don't look like a mercenary to me," she murmured. "You're better than that."

Fox felt slightly offended by Krystal's offhanded comment, but he decided to take it as a compliment. At the very least, she didn't despise him for his career choice. As the vixen slowly stepped out of the tub, the warm water cascaded off of her drenched fur and onto the tiled floor under her bare feet in a way that was reminiscent of a small monsoon. Fox had a very difficult time maintaining his composure around her, because all he wanted to do was to stare at her and drink in her near-perfect beauty as the small water droplets slid off of her fur and clothing.

Krystal broke the silence and happily asked, "Towel, please?"

"Oh! Sure!" Fox quickly replied, standing up and sprinting into the bathroom, where he snatched up a white, cotton towel for the vixen to dry herself with. "Here you go," he said, handing her the white cloth.

"Thank you, Fox," she gratefully replied, taking the towel and firmly matting her fur with it until it was mostly dry. Then, with a sly grin, she returned it to Fox and vigorously shook out her fur, sending hundreds of water droplets into the air and onto Fox, who unhappily grimaced as the vixen began to giggle at him. He was not pleased after having been doused by the Cerinian, but her laughter was infectious; and before long, he found himself laughing along with her.

After walking back into Fox's bedchamber and pulling back its privacy curtain, she changed into the clothes Fox had brought to her before she stepped back into the room's central area and suggested that she and Fox find something to eat. Having eaten nothing for more than 18 hours, the vixen was famished and ready for breakfast. Fox readily obliged and led her out of his hotel room and into the elevator, which took the two vulpines down to the base level where a complimentary breakfast had been provided for each of the hotel's guests.

It was five minutes 'til eight in the morning as Fox and Krystal leisurely walked into the large lobby where breakfast had been laid out. The dining area was busy, although it was not swamped by any means. Fox could tell that Krystal was feeling nervous, although he was clueless as to why she was acting this way. The blue vixen clung to his arm as he neared the food-warming units where sausage, eggs, and pancakes could be found. "What's wrong, Krystal?" Fox compassionately asked, taking a paper plate from a large stack next to the sets of plastic eating utensils.

The Cerinian nervously replied, "I don't feel comfortable in here, Fox. I feel like they're all staring at me."

"Why shouldn't they?" he asked in response. "You're foreign to them. Don't worry about it, Krystal—it's nothing to be concerned about."

He could feel the vixen's tender hand nervously shaking as she gripped his arm as if to provide herself with some kind of security against the curious individuals around her. The young Cerinian felt completely and utterly lost in the unfamiliar world she found herself in. She failed to recognize anything similar to Cerinian cuisine in the dining area's buffet line, and some of the eating utensils didn't make sense to her, either.

"Fox, I don't know what to do here," she softly whimpered, halfheartedly taking a plate from the stack in imitation of Fox.

"Just follow my lead," he warmly spoke, hoping to instill a sense of confidence in the fearful Cerinian vixen who would have much rather not been here at all. After timidly mirroring Fox's meal selections, she followed him into the dining area, where he selected a secluded table in the corner of the room to give his uncomfortable new friend as much privacy as he could.

Taking a quick bite of the eggs he had placed on his plate, Fox looked across the table at Krystal and barely managed to stifle a laugh when he saw her trying to cut a bite out of her pancakes. She held her fork with a clenched fist while furiously cutting away with the knife she held in her other paw. To the casual observer, it would have seemed like she was trying to injure her food before she ate it.

With a quiet laugh, Fox said, "Krystal, you're doing it all wrong. Watch me."

The vulpine properly secured his food with his fork while efficiently slicing through the syrup-covered hotcakes before lifting the bite to his mouth and devouring it. "See?" he mumbled through his food as he chewed it.

"I suppose," she weakly replied before examining her fork and asking, "What do you call this thing with the spikes on it?"

Trying not to laugh, Fox answered, "That's a fork. Don't you have anything like that on Cerinia?"

"No," she replied, "Most of our food is liquid. We usually drink it from a bowl."

"So you're a vegetarian?"

"Not exactly," Krystal explained, "My mother and I eat fish from time to time."

Curious about the vixen's family, Fox asked her, "What's your family like? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

The vixen looked down at the table and twirled her plastic fork as she murmured, "No, it's just me and my mother. Father died when I was young."

"I'm sorry," he disconsolately replied. "I shouldn't have asked."

Now, more than ever, he wished that he had never asked about her family, because he knew that she would present the same question to him very soon. However, the vixen remained silent and brooded over the loss of her father while Fox glanced away from her and resumed his breakfast in an attempt to avoid further conversation with her. Krystal had intended to ask Fox about his own family, but she immediately sensed his reticence regarding the topic and decided to uncover the truth behind his family without asking him.

The vixen placed her eating utensils on the table in front of her and closed her eyes, allowing her mind to drift freely while her consciousness slowly faded out. The noise of the dining area almost completely washed out of her ears as she attentively began to search for the source of Fox's thought patterns until she located it. She vaguely heard his concerned voice repeating her name with a resounding echo that resonated inside her mind for seconds at a time until it slowly dissipated, leaving near-silence in its wake. Mentally following the sound of his voice, Krystal tightened her focus and subconsciously entered Fox's mind.

* * *

_"Fox McCloud, please report to the principal's office."_

The young vulpine shuddered in his standard-issue school desk at the mention of his name. He despised his visits to the principal's office and preferred to avoid them at all costs. However, an order was an order; and he had no say in the matter. With great resignation, he slowly and unwillingly slid out of his desk and nodded to his friend Slippy, who was seated across the room from him. The amphibian's face reflected the same feelings of uneasiness and worry that his vulpine friend's possessed. He watched as Fox exited the schoolroom, the metal door clicking behind him as he entered the Academy's main hallway and began the agonizing walk to the principal's office.

_"What did I do this time?"_ Fox wondered to himself as he listened to his shoes quietly clapping against the tile floor. Apart from himself, the hallway was completely devoid of activity and was silent apart from the sound of his own two feet. He attempted to deduce the cause of his summons to the school office and assumed that it couldn't have been due to anything he had done to break the Academy's notoriously strict rules._ "Maybe the principal wants to congratulate me?"_ he hopefully mused.

As he neared the heavy, oaken door of the office, he caught a glimpse of Peppy Hare through the sliding glass windows bordering the enclosed space which he had been summoned to. In years past, the middle-aged hare would occasionally drop by the school to take his godson out for ice cream or another unexpected treat; but as Fox matured, visits from him or his father became less and less frequent. This was the first time in more than a year that Peppy had set foot in the Academy.

Somewhat reservedly, Fox opened the door to the office and stepped into the room, where he was met with a somber glance from Peppy and a worried expression from the large badger who worked as the Academy's administrator and principal. Curiously, Peppy was wearing his pilot's outfit, as opposed to his day-to-day attire which Fox normally saw him in.

_"What are you doing here, Peppy?"_ Fox anxiously asked, afraid that his visit to the principal's office may have been of a grim nature.

With a bitter expression that scarcely concealed the fact that he was on the verge of bursting into tears, Peppy replied, _"Fox… your father is dead. Pigma turned on us over Venom—and your father didn't make it."_

**_"NO!"_**

* * *

The frantic, heartbroken screams of Fox McCloud echoed through Krystal's mind as she pulled out of her trance and returned to a state of consciousness. In the Oasis Resort's dining area, Fox was worriedly staring at her, concerned that she had inexplicably fallen into a coma or something of the like. He began to ask her, "Are you alright…?" but her sad, contrite expression told Fox everything he could have wanted to know about what she had been doing.

Remorsefully, he looked into her sad, aquamarine eyes and softly told her, "I'm sorry you had to feel my pain for yourself."

"It's okay, Fox," she whimpered in response, "I shouldn't have tried to find out about your family. I'm sorry that I intruded on your memories—that was very rude of me."

Fox reached forward and gently gripped Krystal's extended arm, feeling the softness of her plush, azure fur as he slowly rubbed his fingers into it. The Cerinian still remained disheartened by what she had found in Fox's mind, although the vulpine's soft touch seemed to be providing a sense of healing therapy to her injured soul. "I don't mind you being in my mind," he kindly spoke. "It doesn't bother me."

Krystal made no audible reply, but Fox could faintly feel her presence in his mind, thanking him for his kindness with the purest of emotions. As a faint smile appeared on her small, white lips, Fox stared deeply into the soft, sea-green pools that passed as Krystal's eyes, feeling himself being drawn into them in a way that he was unable to express. He found himself unable to pull himself away from the Cerinian as she returned her gaze and delicately sighed, nearly causing Fox's heart to flutter. He began to feel the same quasi-euphoric sensation he had first experienced in his room that very morning, and he wondered if she felt the same air coming from him.

Suddenly and without warning, the trance imploded. Fox worriedly readjusted his eyes to his surroundings before looking up and to his right, where the source of the disturbance could be found. Next to the table was Scarlet, maliciously scowling at both him and Krystal with her fangs bared in sheer anger and frustration. Her ears were pinned back against her skull, and her furious expression was more than enough to communicate to Fox that he was about to be violently chewed out.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):_

_Unfortunately, I haven't been able to write as much as would like to recently; and as a result, I'm falling behind on my self-imposed schedule for writing this story. My other SF fanfiction, _The Iridium Chronicle, _will continue to be posted in its regular 10-day interval. However, __future chapters of _The Oasis _will be posted as they are completed._ _Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you._

_...And as always, reviews and comments are welcome._


	4. Chapter 4: Some Light Reading

**Chapter 4: Some Light Reading**

"Excuse me—just what do you think you're doing?"

The furious, assertive voice of Scarlet filled both Fox and Krystal's vulpine ears, overwhelming them with her sheer frustration and angst as Fox mumbled incoherently in reply, trying to explain to the scathing vixen why he was seated across from a Cerinian in the Oasis Resort's dining area.

"Scarlet, calm down. You don't have to worry about her," Fox hesitantly spoke, trying to reassure Scarlet that Krystal was nothing to be concerned about. With her ears pinned back, the red vixen angrily bared her teeth at the Cerinian, who whimpered and defensively crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Not relenting even slightly, Scarlet put her muzzle up to Krystal's ear and growled, "Don't even think about trying to get inside my head; and while you're at it, you'd better stay the hell out of my business, too!"

Angrily, Fox snapped, "Scarlet! Be nice to her! She's been through a lot!"

"I'm sure," the red vixen replied, derisively rolling her eyes in disgust. "Come with me, Fox. We've got work to do." The bounty huntress gave him no opportunity to fabricate an excuse as she gripped his paw and pulled him up from his seat. Drawing him closer to her, she savagely whispered into his ear, "I don't know what you're doing with her, but I don't like it. If she interferes with our mission, I'm pinning the blame on you. And believe me—my boss doesn't take kindly to failure."

"She won't interfere with the mission—I promise," Fox weakly replied, turning his attention to Krystal, whose delicate face bore an expression of fear and sadness. Feeling miserable for his blue friend, Fox knelt in front of her chair and softly placed a paw on her shoulder. In the same way that a father would speak to his frightened daughter to assure her that she was safe from harm, Fox quietly told Krystal, "It's going to be okay. Please, just trust me."

The Cerinian feebly nodded and whimpered, "I trust you, Fox."

"Thank you, Krystal," he appreciatively murmured. Before leaving her side, Fox slid the plastic key card for his room out of his pocket, handed it to Krystal, and explained to her, "Just stay in my room. I'll be back later."

Scarlet scowled and quietly snarled at Fox, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from Krystal as both of them began to make their way toward the parking garage where the hotel's chauffer service was located. Shortly after walking through the revolving door that lead out to the garage area, Scarlet menacingly growled, "There'd better be a good reason for her being there, Fox."

"There is," he confidently replied, although his voice revealed to his female counterpart that that he was peeved by her angry intrusion into his brief moment of bliss with Krystal. "Her ship crashed in the desert last night, and her friend told me to take care of her before she died."

Scarlet's ears immediately perked up. "What did you say? Her ship crashed in the desert?"

"Uh, yeah? Why should you care?"

"No reason," she sternly answered, turning her head away from Fox and gazing off into the distance as one of the hotel's luxury sedans pulled up to the curb to take them to their destination in Yaruit. Fox politely allowed Scarlet to enter the vehicle first before he climbed into the car himself.

The chauffer driver—a red macaw—asked, "Where may I take you this morning?"

Scarlet was quick to put in her request. "Wherever there's a good bookstore."

"I'll take care of it," the avian assured her as he shifted the car into drive and pulled out of the parking garage. Fox was immediately mystified by the vixen's request, because in all honesty, it seemed irrelevant to the mission that she was intent on accomplishing. To make matters worse, the vulpine pilot wasn't particularly fond of reading. On the rare occasions when he could be found browsing through a volume of print, it was normally a fitness magazine or a gun-related publishing.

Finally, after nearly two minutes of relative silence, Fox asked Scarlet, "Why the heck are we going to a bookstore? That doesn't have anything to do with our mission."

Scarlet faintly smiled, partially shedding her angst from finding Fox with a Cerinian. "I need to pick up a tourist's guide to the city," she explained, "It's bound to have a street map in it somewhere. Once we know the layout of the roads, we can make a plan for tonight."

"Sounds good," he replied, briefly turning his head to look out the car's side window at the desert as it flew by. The sand dunes were almost completely silent, except for the wind. Yet, somewhere in the distance was the wreckage of the Cerinian transport ship that had mysteriously crashed to the earth the night before. There was nothing about the incident on the news in the breakfast area that morning, and no one had mentioned anything about seeing a strange shooting star in the waning hours of the night.

The incident was unusual, to say the least. Fox determined that he would return to the scene of the crash to investigate what might have caused the ship to plummet to the ground; but that was for later. Now, he found himself on the way to a bookstore in downtown Yaruit, seated next to Scarlet, who looked every bit as ravishing as she did the night before, even in her normal daytime clothes that made no attempt to draw any special attention to her. Not that they would have needed to. She would have been beautiful no matter what she chose to slip into.

At the moment, the vixen seemed to be deep in thought. She capriciously scratched at an itch behind her ear and ran her fingers through her fluffy tail, making sure that none of her fur had become tangled after her everyday brushing routine, which came immediately after a warm bath taken with a special variety of fur-softening soap that she made sure to bring with her on her travels wherever she went. She glanced over at Fox as he wistfully stared out into space before he turned his attention to her after noticing that she was looking at him. The vulpine nervously smiled, then averted his gaze elsewhere.

"_I suppose he has a reason to be bashful,"_ Scarlet thought to herself, placing a paw under her chin and stroking her muzzle. "_He's a good sport—that's for sure. Most guys would have bailed on me by now. He's a good guy, too—almost too perfect, actually. Now if only he would ditch that Cerinian. I don't care what he says—she's a threat; and if he doesn't get rid of her, I will."_

In due time, the chauffer car entered the city limits and navigated towards the largest bookstore the city had to offer, stopping next to the curb in front of the business's bronze-trimmed, wooden doors. The bookstore was constructed out of a rough sandstone-like material that called to mind old-fashioned desert architecture. However, modern appointments such as high-tech plasma-based lights and security cameras were present in several prominent positions around the building

The black car's avian driver climbed out of his driver's seat, walked around the car, and opened the right rear door to assist Fox and Scarlet with their egress from the vehicle. Both vulpines gratefully thanked him for his services before he climbed back into the sedan and left the shopping center where the large bookstore was located. As soon as the black car vanished from sight, Scarlet turned to Fox and said, "Make yourself at home in there. I'll let you know when I've got what we need."

Fox consented and pulled open the bookstore's heavy, wooden entry doors; allowing Scarlet to enter before he stepped into the spacious building, where thousands of books could be found. E-books were far more popular than the dilapidated paper-based volumes contained within the store, but there was still a moderately-sized market for the old-fashioned paper tomes, particularly among connoisseurs of fine literature. While Scarlet efficiently made her way to the 'tourism and history' section of the store, Fox walked the other way, meaninglessly scanning the myriad book covers that leapt out at his eyes.

He caught a glimpse of the bookstore's comprehensive magazine section and decided to see if he could find anything of interest to him. The natives of Tehraia were culturally different from those of Lylat, and Fox wondered if their interests and pastimes would be a significant departure from those he was familiar with. However, it was for selfish, personal reasons that he was curious about the Tehraians' way of life. In reality, he couldn't have cared less about them.

Noticing the covers of several firearm magazines from a distance, he began to walk towards the left wall, oblivious to the small ocelot female that was about to cross his path. The feline, who worked for the store, was carrying a large number of books in her arms—so many, in fact, that she was having great difficulty in holding onto all of them. With Fox's vision latched onto the wall far ahead of him, he failed to see the ocelot; and he slammed into her, causing her to drop her books all over the floor and yelp in surprise and shock.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" he repentantly exclaimed, making sure that he hadn't injured the worker with his clumsy blunder. "Let me help you with those."

He began to pick up the numerous pieces of literature off of the floor before handing them to the ocelot, who also started collecting the books, neatly stacking them in a way that would allow her to pick them up again. Three volumes still lay on the floor, and as Fox reached down to pick one of them up, his eyes wandered towards the title of the small, blue book, which was entitled _Blue Passion—How to Satisfy the Cerinian in Your Life_.

He flipped the book over and read its description on the back cover. It appeared that the small, relatively thick, paperback book was an instructions manual of sorts that had been written for the purpose of improving relationships between native Cerinians and offworlders. It contained suggestions and pointers for both male and female Cerinians, and it had been authored by a brother and sister, both of whom had married Cerinians and learned the intricate facets of their native culture.

Part of him was mentally screaming at him for taking interest in the book, but his curiosity had been piqued by the paperback work. As the ocelot worker picked up her books and thanked Fox for helping her collect them, he turned around and made sure that Scarlet wasn't watching him. For her to find him holding—or worse yet—_reading_ a book on Cerinian relationships would be the death of him. Feeling guilty for what he was about to do, he clutched the book and held it at his side as he skittishly walked towards the back of the store, where a small coffee bar had been set up, along with a decently-sized reading area where the patrons of the bookstore could 'demo' their books before buying them.

He quietly sat down at a small, rounded table in the back corner of the reading area and opened the book to its first page, quietly letting out a deep breath as he read the foreword.

"_This book is the result of more than a decade of living with a Cerinian as a mate and a life partner. Although their traditions and quirks may seem offsetting at first, you can rest assured knowing that a relationship with one of them can be deep, rewarding, and long-lasting. In this book, we will explain how to get the most out of your relationship with the Cerinian in your life. Good luck."_

He quickly raised his eyes and scanned the immediate area, hoping that Scarlet was out of view. Fortunately, the only individuals that could be seen from his table were a smattering of reptilians, felines, and a white-furred vulpine that was sitting on the opposite side of the area from him. Knowing that he was safe from Scarlet's fury at least for the moment, Fox flipped to Chapter 1 and began reading it. The book was divided into two halves, one for male suitors and one for females; and both contained tried and tested advice for living with a Cerinian.

"_Chapter 1: Building a Friendship"_

"_First of all, it should be mentioned that there are four castes of blue Cerinian foxes. The lower the caste, the more likely they are to befriend you. High Order Cerinians are notoriously stingy with their affections and do not normally associate with foreigners, whom they consider 'inferior beings.' If you find that a member of the High Order is showing interest in you, consider yourself very lucky. Very few non-Cerinians will ever have the same privilege that you do. If you can maintain a relationship with one of them—as I did—you will find them to be a supportive, loving spouse that will care for you and offer you her love as often as you would like."_

"_But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, if you find that a Cerinian vixen is showing interest in you, it is prudent to determine which order they are part of. This can be determined by observing their white markings, which are inked and branded on them when they reach the age of Cerinian adulthood (Age 15, by our standards). Worker Order Cerinians do not have any markings, while Soldier Order Cerinians have unique tribal prints above their collar bone. The Order of Cerinian Nobility is indicated by the presence of two narrow, vertical stripes below each eye._

_The High Order is the most powerful class of Cerinians, and it is also the most detached from everyday Cerinian life. The elders of this Order are responsible for maintaining the peace on the planet, and each and every member of the High Order is trained in a series of esoteric combat arts that my Cerinian wife tells me has been in existence for millennia. Their sole duty is to maintain balance on the planet, regardless of what that entails. They are also known to be more telepathically capable than the other three orders combined. This 'elite' order—if you will—is revealed by the squared glyphic prints that circle both of their arms. Each High Order Cerinian also receives a unique branding on their left thigh—although honestly, you normally have to progress pretty far into your relationship to ever see it."_

Fox looked up from the book in shock. He vaguely remembered Krystal's tattoos from earlier when she had gone for a quick dip in the spa back in his hotel room at the Oasis; and after reading the description of the four Cerinian orders, he realized that Krystal was a member of the highest order. He felt relieved that he had not been aware of that fact when he first met her; because if he had known, he would have acted very differently towards the blue vixen.

Once again making sure that Scarlet was out of sight, Fox lowered his gaze to the small book once more.

"_It's not terribly difficult to know when a Cerinian vixen has taken an interest in you. First of all, I should explain that female Cerinians are taught to seek out mates with qualities which they would like to see in their offspring. This is why it helps to be physically fit. If you are, you have an advantage. My wife says that she's seen other Cerinians fall for offworlders; and all of them were in excellent physical shape. However, the physical aspect is only one part of it. Cerinian vixens will also look for attractive character traits, especially bravery and honor. Cerinians consider these two virtues as being more important than the others._

_If a Cerinian vixen takes an interest in you, they will normally first show it by performing acts of service for you to see how you react. Gratitude and thankfulness on your part will let the vixen know that you appreciate them. This will draw them closer to you as well. However, she will also want you to care for her needs. She won't give you any hints or suggestions, but don't worry—the opportunities to prove yourself worthy will come. If you return her affection for you and take care of her, she will recognize it and reward you with a deeper friendship. However, please note that intimacy does not appear at this stage. I will cover that in greater detail in the future chapters."_

Fox decided that he had read enough and closed the book.

"_If you return her affection for you and __**take care of her…**__" _he mused, pondering the possibility that his new acquaintance may have been developing feelings for him. He enjoyed merely having the Cerinian around and feeling her presence; and he wondered if she felt the same way towards him. He felt even more fortunate to know her now that he was aware of her status on Cerinia. According to the book, friendships with Cerinians of the High Order were rare.

After once again scanning the area for any sight of Scarlet, Fox quickly stood up and walked to the nearby counter, where coffee was normally sold. A blue avian was standing behind the counter, checking the operation of the various coffee-making machines in the area. Quietly, Fox asked the worker, "Hey—can I pay for a book back here?"

"Sure," the avian replied. "Is that all you want?"

"That's it," Fox confirmed, handing him the book. The worker scanned the blue volume's barcode and indicated for Fox to pay for his purchase, which he did by handing the cashier the required total of 12 credits for the book.

"Thank you very much, and have a nice day," the cashier courteously said, dropping the book into a white plastic bag and handing it to Fox along with his receipt. Not a moment too soon, Scarlet appeared out of a nearby aisle, carrying a large atlas of Yaruit's complicated city street system. Completely ignoring the white bag which Fox held in his right hand, the vixen slammed the atlas down on the nearest table and opened it to a representation of the city's many roads.

"Sit down, Fox," she said, pulling out a chair and dropping down into it as Fox slowly complied with her demand. The vixen pointed out the location of the weapons dealer's hideout and explained, "Our guy is in the Old Warehouse District. It looks like it's the perfect place for scum like him to hide out. The police are basically nonexistent there. Criminals run the area—as we both know." She derisively rolled her eyes, remembering what had taken place the night before. "I talked to my boss last night after I got back to my room, and he suggested the possibility that the hovercraft transports like the one we saw are being used to haul dangerous goods in small enough quantities so that the customs officers at the spaceport don't recognize them as a threat. If that's the case, we can expect them to keep making deliveries for a few more nights, at least. That's where we come in. One of us needs to find a way into that building. I've got an idea, but I'm going to need a lot of help from you."

"What did you have in mind?" Fox asked.

"I'm going to hijack one of the transports."

Fox's face immediately assumed a surprised expression, although Scarlet's idea shouldn't have been shocking to him at all based on what Fox already knew about her and her methods. "How are you going to do that?" he skeptically enquired.

"I'm going to block the road they're using to get to the hideout. For me to get it right, though; I need you to get in your fighter and follow the next transport that leaves the spaceport. It's called the Star Wing, right?"

"_Ar_wing," Fox corrected.

"Close enough," she replied, "For this to work, we'll need to be in close contact with each other. Once I block their route, I'll kill the driver, change into his clothes, and finish the trip to the warehouse. After I get inside, I'll get to business taking care of Carache and finding out what he's trying to do. The only catch is that you can't land your fighter back at the hotel after we're done, because they won't let you fly it near the hotel after 9:00."

"Got it. What time should we start, then?"

The vixen replied, "Last night, that transport went past us at around 9:15, so we'd better be safe and make sure that we're in position by 9:00 at the very latest."

"One more question," Fox interjected, "What are you going to block the road with?"

The shapely female fox grinned and answered, "I'll figure that out when the time comes. Come on—let's go. Is there anything else you need while we're out on the town?"

Digging through his mind in an attempt to remember anything that would be useful for him to acquire, he said, "I could use some swimwear for the pool back in my room. I didn't bring any with me."

"Come on, Fox!" Scarlet taunted, "Are you that self-conscious? Just jump in! It's just you… or…"

She quickly realized why Fox had wanted to acquire a suitable set of swim shorts for himself; and gradually, her joking expression disappeared, replaced by a furious scowl. "…NO! You did _not _let that blue furball into your room! Did you?"

"She needed a place to stay! I was just trying to help her!" Fox desperately exclaimed, trying to defend his case as Scarlet angrily snarled at him. "Why do you hate her so much?" he demanded.

"That's none of your business, Fox!" Scarlet snapped, grabbing him by the collar and pulling his muzzle within inches of her own. Fox could feel the vixen's heated breaths whisking across his nose as the smell of her sensuous perfume overwhelmed his olfactory senses. "Come on, let's beat it, Fox. You can buy your stupid swimwear if you want."

"Thanks," he mumbled as he followed Scarlet up to the front checkout registers, where she paid for her Yahruitian road atlas before she and Fox exited the store. The morning was quickly fading as the scorching midday sun beat down on their thick fur coats with a near-insulting intensity that caused both of them a great deal of discomfort. Both of them were dressed lightly, but it was clearly not enough for them to avoid being burned by the intense heat of the Tehraian sunlight. The shopping center which they were in was home to several clothing stores, including an upscale boutique shop, a sportswear store, and a general-purpose clothing shop where almost any kind of relevant clothing item could be found.

Fox began walking towards the largest of the nearby stores with Scarlet in tow. Essentially, she was merely giving Fox a concession by allowing him to shop for a swimsuit, because she would have much rather been drinking a margarita at a nearby restaurant or bar, watching the other Tehraians being tortured by the heat outside while she relaxed and sipped on her drink in a cool, climate-controlled building.

Soon, both vulpines walked through the automatic doors of the large store, which was cooled to a much more comfortable temperature than the searing air outside. Fox quickly located the men's area of the store and walked towards it, while Scarlet parted ways with him and meaninglessly browsed the store's wide selection of perfumes and scents. While the vixen sampled several kinds of perfume, Fox selected a white pair of swim trunks and tried them on to ensure that the fit was correct before deciding on his purchase and re-dressing himself in his street clothes.

He looked around for Scarlet on his way to the checkout counter, but she was nowhere to be found. To pass the time, he looked through the store's selection of men's fragrances, most of which were intended for feline use. However, it didn't bother him that fragrances for his species were in short supply, since he rarely ever wore cologne to begin with.

"May I help you, sir?"

Fox quickly looked up to find an orange female tabby looking at him, asking if she could be of any assistance to him. "Do you have anything for my species?" he asked in reply, assuming that she would be unable to help him.

"As a matter of fact, we got a shipment in yesterday. I have to warn you, though—it's not for the faint of heart."

"What do you mean?" Fox quizzically asked.

The feline grinned slightly and placed her elbows on the glass countertop in front of her. "I've heard several customers complaining that the scent was too alluring to vulpine females." She quietly laughed and added, "I thought that was supposed to be a good thing."

Fox pensively scratched his muzzle and replied, "I'll take it."

"Excellent choice, sir," the tabby replied, handing him an unopened silver box which contained the alluring fragrance. As he walked up to the checkout register and paid for his purchases, Scarlet exited the women's changing room, holding several thin, silky garments in her paws. "Couldn't stand the heat?" Fox tauntingly asked his vixenly acquaintance.

"Shut up," she snapped, handing her new clothes to the cashier, who scanned them and returned them to her. After Scarlet had paid for her new attire, she and Fox exited the store and once again felt the searing heat overpowering them and causing both of them to sweat profusely. Neither of them said it, but both of them wanted nothing more than to cool off in their respective hotel rooms' swimming pools back at the Oasis. With their morning duties accomplished, Scarlet contacted the hotel and requested that they be picked up and taken back to the Oasis.

While waiting for the chauffer car to arrive at their location, the two vulpines made the short walk to a nearby café, where Scarlet used the opportunity to slip into her new attire in the restaurant's bathroom. While Scarlet changed out of her old clothes, Fox took a seat in a booth for two and calmly gazed out the window, watching the busy shoppers stroll by. His attention was diverted by a reptilian waiter who approached his table and asked him what he wanted to drink.

"Water, please," he replied. The waiter quickly left his table and returned to the kitchen as Fox reached into his bag from the clothing store and pulled out the box containing the vulpine fragrance he had purchased for himself. "_Not for the faint of heart, huh? We'll see…" _He opened the paper tabs on the box and lightly sprayed his wrist with the perfume before dabbing some of the enticing scent onto the area below his neck. The smell was pleasing to his nose, but he wondered how Scarlet would react to it. He remembered that the lady from the clothing shop had warned him that several former customers had complained about it being 'too alluring.'

He didn't have to wait long to find out. In moments, Scarlet exited the restroom, wearing the new clothes she had just purchased. Fox found his mouth unconsciously hanging open as his eyes drank in Scarlet's breathtaking appearance. She had wrapped a pink, silky, scarf-like garment around her upper chest, leaving her stomach bare; while a pair of white silk trousers loosely adorned her legs. Fox felt a stray drop of saliva leak out of his mouth, but he quickly wiped it away and hoped that Scarlet hadn't seen it. The lovely vixen took the seat across from him and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table's surface. "So, what do you think?" she asked with a smile.

"I, um… I…"

Scarlet quietly laughed at his nervousness and leaned back in her seat, softly rubbing her stomach with her paw and feeling the softness of her downy, red fur. "Nice, isn't it?"

"Uh… yes it is," Fox replied, forcing himself to answer the vixen's question.

Scarlet picked up a nearby menu as the reptilian waiter returned to the table, bringing Fox's glass of water with him. After depositing the clear glass on the table in front of Fox, the waiter asked Scarlet, "What can I get you, ma'am?"

"I'll take a margarita if you've got one," she replied.

"We have them. What kind would you like?"

A bit surprised that the small restaurant would carry such a beverage, she said, "Just bring me the best one you've got."

"Yes, ma'am," the reptile politely replied. "Would either of you like anything to eat?"

Scarlet shook her head and said, "No thanks. I'm not hungry." However, Fox happily answered, "I'll have the club sandwich."

"One club sandwich, coming right up. I'll have that margarita out to you soon, too, ma'am." With that, the waiter left the two vulpines to themselves next to a large window in the mostly-unoccupied café. After their reptilian server had disappeared through the door leading into the kitchen, Fox sat up and asked Scarlet, "Don't you have to wear a shirt in places like this?"

Scarlet grinned and explained, "The rules are a bit different here. As long as you're decent, no one cares what you wear. Personally, I'm loving this—it's like wearing nothing at all."

"_I wish you were wearing nothing at all…"_

"What was that? I didn't hear you."

Fox's face flushed immediately, and he repeatedly stumbled over his own words, trying to sneak out of repeating the ill-advised statement that he had lustfully uttered under his breath. "I didn't say anything," he insincerely replied.

"Sure, you didn't… wait, what's that smell?" the vixen demanded, avidly sniffing the air around her in an attempt to identify the source of the scent that was causing her senses to tingle.

"_Oh crap…"_

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):  
_

_Wow... has it really been almost three weeks since I updated this thing?  
_

_Anyway, I recently started writing a Kursed fic called 6 Days and 23 Hours; and to determine if I was going to put priority on that one or keep it on The Oasis, I decided to let the review count on 6 Days make the decision for me. Well, I got 12 reviews on the first chapter, so that answered my question pretty quickly. Therefore, 6 Days has taken priority over the Oasis until it is completed (not long, because it's not going to be a very long story). Worry not, though! I will not abandon this story._


	5. Chapter 5: What You Can't Have

**Chapter 5: You Only Want What You Can't Have**

Following yet another long chauffeur car ride back to the Oasis, Fox and Scarlet rode the hotel's opulently-decorated elevator to the 28th floor and stepped out into the hallway where their rooms were located. To Fox's relief, Scarlet had not enquired about the contents of the white, plastic bag that contained his book on Cerinian romance advice. If she had asked, Fox would have most likely found himself in a world of pain with hundreds of shredded scraps of paper littering the ground around him.

As the two foxes reached the doors to their respective rooms, Scarlet turned to Fox and said, "Be ready to go at 8:15. By the way, does your fighter have two seats?"

"Um, not really," Fox replied, scratching the back of his head. "There's a small shelf behind the pilot's seat, but it's not designed for someone to sit on."

Not entirely pleased with the fact that Fox's Arwing was strictly a one-passenger vehicle, Scarlet curled her lip and lightly stamped her foot on the carpeted floor outside her hotel room. "I guess we'll have to use mine, then. I was hoping we wouldn't have to."

"Don't like the idea of me using your fighter?" Fox thoughtfully asked.

"No—it's not that," she replied, opening her hands with her palms facing the ceiling. "Carache's men might recognize it. It's a very distinctive design, you see.

Sliding his key card into his room's card reader and turning the door handle, Fox encouragingly said, "We'll make it work. I'll be outside my door at 8:15."

With that, Fox opened his door and stepped inside. As the door clicked shut behind him, Scarlet lightly bit at her sharp nails while thinking about Fox and her upcoming task with him. It shamed her to think about it, but she realized that Fox's company seemed to provide her with a sense of warmth that she normally never felt. Due to her insistence on being completely self-sufficient, she had tried her best to ignore the fact that it simply felt good to be around the mercenary. Since the time she had met Fox, she had acted playfully standoffish towards him, knowing that a spark would never be set off between the two of them. Now, though, she couldn't be sure—and it worried her immensely.

As she stood out in the hallway, her mind leapt to two separate thoughts—one of her employer and former romantic partner, and one of the blue Cerinian that Fox was sheltering. Slowly, a bitter, scornful scowl crept across the vixen's face. That blue furball had to go. Not only was she a possible threat to her mission, but she would also be the first thing to block any advances that she would dare to make on Fox. Scarlet wasn't sure how deep Fox's feelings for the Cerinian went, but she was deeply concerned that he was already making a romantic connection with her.

"_What am I thinking?" _she aggressively mused to herself. "_I don't love him, so why am I so angry that he might have feelings for that stupid Cerinian? He can choose whoever he wants, right?_"

Because her question was directed towards no one other than herself, she received no answer, causing her to gnash her teeth and let out a decidedly dog-like cry before angrily taking out her room key and thrusting it into her door's card reader. With a pained, unhappy frown, Scarlet threw open her door and let it slide shut on its own. The noise in her room was very low, and the only audible source of sound was the relaxing splashing of the small, artificial waterfall cascading into the large, lower area of her room's swimming pool from the smaller spa tub above it. After slipping out of her shoes, she rolled up her pant legs and dipped her feet in the comfortable water while seated on the edge of the pool.

She had not felt this much unrest in a very long time. Normally, she was brimming with confidence and self-assurance; but something about Fox and the blue Cerinian being together was causing her to feel abnormally stressed. With her feet thoroughly soaked in the pool, the vixen dug deeply into her conscious mind in an attempt to figure out what was causing her to feel so miserable.

She thought about the night before, when Fox had been temporarily held hostage by the criminal gang in the rancid downtown area of Yaruit. Normally, she wouldn't have thought twice about leaving a counterpart behind for the sake of her own safety. It had been nothing short of daft for her to make an attempt at rescuing Fox, especially considering that she was outnumbered five to one. As she pondered her actions, she began to realize that she may have had slightly deeper feelings for Fox than she would have wanted to admit. She genuinely cared about him, unlike most other individuals she had worked with in the past. The vixen wanted to deny it, but when her thoughts rearranged themselves to create a mental picture of Fox passionately kissing the Cerinian; she realized that she felt the need to protect him because she herself wanted him.

"_No, I don't,"_ she told herself. "_It's a weakness I can't allow myself to have. It can only end badly anyway, right?_"

Scarlet knew that the question wouldn't answer itself. She was the only one who could provide a solution to it; and at the moment, she found herself at a complete loss as far as what to do. Still feeling dissatisfied and unresolved, the vixen stood up, dried her feet, and climbed into her bed for a bitter afternoon nap.

* * *

After Fox had closed the door to his suite, he carefully placed the plastic bag containing his newly-purchased book on the ground next to his spare set of boots, being very cautious to avoid thinking about its contents as not to arouse Krystal's suspicions. He wasn't sure how the cobalt vixen would react if she found out about his book; but for the moment, all he wanted was to make sure that it remained a secret until the time was right.

After carefully placing the bag on the ground, Fox looked around the room and called out, "Krystal?"

His vision was quickly diverted towards the balcony, where the blue vixen was standing, looking out over the vast expanse of desert below. Upon hearing Fox's voice, she slowly turned her head and acknowledged his presence before returning her gaze to the wilderness outside Fox's suite. She seemed to be deep in thought. Her ears were lowered, as was her bushy, cloth-wrapped tail. The vixen was leaning up against the metallic railing overlooking the hotel's outside courtyard and garden area, which abruptly ended in the sands of the Tehraian Greater Desert. Fox was no telepath, but he could tell that she was deeply troubled.

After removing his shoes, Fox quietly walked out to the balcony and stood next to the vixen, assuming her same position and leaning on the railing. Trying to avoid coming across as too intrusive, he turned his head slightly and looked at Krystal with his peripheral vision. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

The vixen looked down at the courtyard below and quietly murmured, "Well…no—I just have a lot on my mind."

"I understand. This place must be strange to you," Fox softly replied, directing his eyes away from Krystal and out towards the desert, where a mild, hot wind was whipping the soft, dry sand up into several small dust tornadoes. "I would feel the same way if I was in your position."

The vixen sighed and clutched at her silver necklace which had been a gift from her mother back on Cerinia. It had only been two days since she had left the planet, but it already felt like an eternity. Her home seemed so far away now that she was stranded on a desert planet with a fox she knew very little about. She felt that she could trust him, but he was still somewhat of a stranger. However, because he was the only friendly company she had, she was left with little choice other than to remain in his care.

Sadly looking at Fox, Krystal asked, "Why does your friend hate me so much?"

"She's not my friend," Fox quickly corrected. "She's just someone I'm working with. I don't know why she hates you, Krystal. Personally, I don't see what's not to like." After speaking the last phrase, which had not come out the way that he had intended, Fox's skin turned a shade of bright red.

"You mean that?" the vixen dolefully asked.

"Well… sure," Fox uneasily replied, turning to look at her. "You're a very nice person. I…um… really like being around you."

The vixen's sad face broke out into a melancholic smile as she kindly patted his shoulder and sweetly said, "Thank you, Fox. No one's ever been this nice to me before."

"Really? Why not?"

Krystal's smile quickly vanished as she recounted her past on Cerinia. Ever since she could remember, she was always treated as if she would never amount to anything. Her telepathy could never seem to measure up to that of the other High Order Cerinians, her combat skills were only average for her age, and she had never been able to fulfill the wishes of the Cerinian Elders. Instead of wanting to consign herself to a life of duty protecting the planet of Cerinia from harm, she wanted to live a life of adventure. Even her own mother refused to sympathize with her on this point. With her husband dead and gone, Krystal's mother couldn't stand the thought of her only daughter becoming a disgrace to the High Order and leaving the planet for something as trivial as adventure. Despite her uncommon beauty, Krystal was often ignored by the Cerinian men, who wanted mates who would be willing to remain at home and care for their children—not wander off on their own.

Throughout most of her childhood and even into her teen years, her only constant friend had been the older vixen named Jasmine. She was the only one who seemed to understand Krystal's deep longing for adventure; and because even Krystal's own mother couldn't relate to her in many ways, Jasmine often found herself as the only person who could truly listen to Krystal's longings and disappointments and understand her pain. It was only because of Jasmine's high standing with the Elders of the High Order that Krystal had even been allowed to leave Cerinia in the first place.

With Jasmine dead, Krystal had lost her only friend, who could never be replaced. However, she realized that if what Fox was saying was true—and it most certainly was—she had finally found a man who actually appreciated her. Red vulpines existed on Cerinia, but she had been taught from a very young age to view them as inferiors who were far below her level as a High Order Cerinian. Regardless of the Elders' ceaseless chiding, she found them to be intriguing to look at, if only because she was not allowed to interact with them on anything more than a very impersonal level.

With a faint sense of longing in her eyes, Krystal looked at Fox and admired his excellent, balanced build. Even though he was the farthest thing from a Cerinian, she found him to be very handsome—beautiful, even. However, the one aspect that distinguished him from all the other men she had met in her lifetime was that he had rescued her from an almost-certain death. She felt completely indebted to him. In fact, she would have been willing to work as his servant if he had requested such a thing from her.

Taking Krystal's deep, pensive regression into the realm of thought and her subsequent refusal to answer his previous question as a signal for him not to press the matter, Fox quietly told her, "I don't understand how anyone could hate you." As the vixen turned to face him with grateful eyes, Fox nervously said, "You're wonderful."

In the next few seconds, Krystal began to cry. No one had ever shown such kindness to her as Fox had just now. She felt guilty for what she did next, which was to throw her arms around Fox's body and tightly hold him against her own. Such an act would have been inexcusable back on Cerinia, but this was not Cerinia. Much more than that, though—he deserved it. In time, Krystal released her grip on Fox and stepped back, feebly apologizing for her impulsive actions. "I…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"Why not?" Fox asked. "There wasn't anything wrong with what you did."

"My mother…she would have been ashamed of me," Krystal whimpered, unhappily looking down at her feet. "I'm not supposed to interact with you. It's part of my Order's code."

Fox curled his lip and tilted his head slightly to the side. "Why is that?"

"The Code says that I'm not allowed to show affection to inferiors," she explained. The vixen paused and twitched her ears before continuing, "…But you've already done so much for me. I'm at a loss right now, Fox. I don't know what to do."

Fox felt deeply sympathetic for the poor, confused vixen standing in front of him. She wanted to give him everything that he deserved for rescuing her and giving her a place to stay, but her people's restrictive laws strictly prohibited her from showing Fox the depths of her gratitude to him. Slowly, he stepped closer to Krystal and softly placed his paws on her shoulders. "You don't have to do anything, Krystal," he warmly said while gently rubbing his fingers into her shoulder muscles. "I'll take care of you until you make it back to your home."

Krystal initially said nothing, but her deep, heavy breathing was more than enough to show that she was thoroughly enjoying Fox's affectionate actions towards her. After several seconds, the vixen faintly replied, "Thank you, Fox."

Still deeply conflicted, Krystal turned back towards the desert and once again leaned up against the railing, quietly breathing in the hot desert air. She closed her eyes and attempted to mentally search for a way to resolve her current situation, but only seconds into her relapse, the relative silence of the windswept balcony was broken by Fox's voice. "I'm going to sit out in the courtyard. If you don't want to come with me, I understand."

The vixen opened her eyes and looked towards Fox, who seemed to sense her uneasiness stemming from his suggestion. Quietly, she said, "I'll go with you, Fox. At least it'll give me something to do."

Fox had planned to take his newly-purchased book and delve into the more intricate details of Cerinian relationships, but because Krystal had decided to come with him, he knew that he no longer had that option. No matter, though—he enjoyed talking to Krystal, and anything that he could do to pass the time was welcome. Still nervous outside the confines of Fox's room, Krystal closely followed Fox as he exited his room and walked to the elevator, which took them to the base floor where the hotel's courtyard could be found. Fox pushed open the heavy glass door that led to the outdoor area and held it for Krystal, who failed to understand what the purpose of his kind gesture had been. Having never left Cerinia before, Krystal was wholly confused by many of the foreigners' actions and traditions.

The elegant courtyard of the Oasis resort was constructed mostly of light-colored marble tile. A large, elegant fountain was positioned in the middle of the stone pad, which also contained several stone benches for the hotel's patrons to sit on. Three high-powered fans were employed to cool the area to a comfortable temperature, and four curved sand pits had been dug out to add a natural touch to the opulent outdoor area. Neither Fox nor Krystal had seen the courtyard at night, but if they had, they would have been amazed at its significantly altered appearance that many had previously described as 'breathtaking.'

The area was open to the hotel's guests at all times during the day and was the preferred place for them to relax, read, and escape from the stresses and struggles of life that even the wealthiest of all patrons seemed to experience.

As before, Krystal fell in line behind Fox before sitting down in a comfortable, gray cloth armchair overlooking one of the Oasis's two decorative pools. Swimming in them was strictly prohibited, mainly because the hotel's operators wished to keep the area as tranquil and peaceful as possible. For the most part, Fox and Krystal were alone in the moderately-sized courtyard. The only other hotel guests on the marble pad were a green parrot and a large male lion.

As he looked out over the water into the depths of the sandy ocean in the distance, Fox contemplated the marvelous splendor of his surroundings. According to Scarlet, however, it couldn't hold a candle to Krystal's homeworld of Cerinia. Curious to find out if what the red vixen had said was true, he turned to Krystal and asked, "How does this compare with Cerinia?"

Because she had been deep in thought, Fox's question caught her off guard. The blue Cerinian sat up in her seat and quickly observed her surroundings before replying, "It can't even come close. It's lovely, yes; but it's not anywhere near as beautiful as Cerinia. If you knew what my home was like, you'd never want to leave."

Krystal's answer caused Fox to scratch his head and wonder why she had left her homeworld in the first place if she truly believed it to be the paradise that she said it was. Replying to her statement, Fox asked, "Why did you leave, then?"

The vixen sighed and rested her head on one of her blue paws. "Because I wanted to see what was out there. I wanted to believe that there was more for me somewhere else. I didn't feel loved on Cerinia."

Fox compassionately placed his paw on the arm of Krystal's chair and replied, "I understand."

As the two vulpines looked out into the desert, Krystal faintly smiled. For the first time since she could remember, someone other than her late friend Jasmine claimed to understand her desire to belong and be loved for what she was, even though it was not what the Elders of her order would have wanted from her. Briefly, she looked at Fox and caught his eye, causing him to glance over at her with a mildly nervous expression on his face.

The vixen quietly sighed and once again began to mull over her predicament. It seemed that she would not be leaving Tehraia until her gracious host decided that the time was right; but for some reason, she felt content with that possibility. Her trip had originally been designated as a week-long event, which meant that nothing would seem out of place if she managed to return home within the next six days. The trouble was that the foreigner sitting next to her seemed to value her much more highly than anyone on her home planet did.

Suddenly, a brash, rebellious thought entered her mind. "_I don't have to go back if I don't want to. What's the worst they could do? Send someone to find me and then tell me to come home? They don't care enough about me for that. They'd probably be happy that I'm gone." _With a cold scowl on her face, Krystal mused, "_Fox probably wouldn't mind if I decided to stick around with him for a bit longer. I think I would enjoy that. Living with a mercenary would be fun."_

As she pondered the brazen course of action, she felt the legalistic bonds of her people's regulations beginning to lose their grasp on her. It was a truly liberating feeling that she hadn't felt since she had been allowed to leave Cerinia for a temporary vacation with Jasmine. If she followed through with the denial of her position on Cerinia, she would be branded as a heretic and would subsequently be looked at as an object of disgust by the other members of her order. However, if she cast off her duties as a High Order Cerinian, she would be free to do whatever she pleased anywhere else.

Looking over at Fox, she silently posed a question intended for the Elders of the High Order. "_Would you really keep me from expressing how thankful I am to him for saving my life? The best I can do is to just say 'thanks' and move on? He deserves so much more than that. I'm sure you'd say that he's a worthless 'inferior,' but I know that he's so much better than ALL of you."_

Noticing the tense expression on Krystal's face, Fox asked her, "What's wrong, Krystal?"

"Oh… um, I'd rather not say," she weakly replied. Even though the prospect of spurning her elders and leaders caused her to feel empowered, she knew better than to act on an idea that she had come up with literally thirty seconds ago. _"I'll sleep on it tonight," _she thought, although she quickly realized that unless Fox offered to sleep on the harsh tile floor of his suite, she would be sharing a bed with him that night. Not that she felt awkward in the least about doing such a thing. Nothing would happen unless either of them started removing their clothes.

Still, if Fox slept beside her and kept her company throughout the night, a bias would most certainly be added to her pending decision. At the moment, however, the vixen was unaware that Fox would not be sleeping at the Oasis that night. Due to the scheduled time for his mission with Scarlet, he would not be able to land his fighter in the resort's dedicated parking area for fear of violating the Oasis's regulations on the nighttime use of air and space vehicles. Regardless, Krystal decided that she would use the night to think things through in her dreams, which were much more vivid and 'real' than those of any normal being. Without the noises and distractions of the world to hold them back, Cerinians were able to answer difficult questions, solve seemingly-insurmountable problems, and fulfill lucid fantasies that would never have been possible in the real world—all while sleeping in the comfort of their own beds. For this very reason, many Cerinians found restful sleep to be more enjoyable than actual life.

For the next thirty minutes, Fox and Krystal calmly relaxed in their chairs on the concrete courtyard, aimlessly looking out into the desert and allowing their minds to drift freely. As a telepath, Krystal could feel the relaxed, calming emotions flowing from Fox as he breathed deeply and temporarily pushed the thoughts about the upcoming mission into the back of his mind. The vixen fed off of his soothing aura and used to it calm herself down, bringing her mind back into the present, where all was peaceful.

Krystal could have sat outside until the sun disappeared behind the dunes of the Tehraian Greater Desert, but when Fox decided that he was ready to return to his room, the vixen unquestioningly followed him. Hours later, after a long, relaxing bath for Krystal, a well-deserved afternoon nap for Fox, and a room service-provided dinner, the time finally came for Fox to gear up for his mission with Scarlet.

Knowing that he would be behind the controls of Scarlet's fighter for almost the entirety of the mission, Fox donned a black jacket, which contrasted nicely with the red pants he was wearing at the time. A matching red scarf completed his outfit and provided his neck with protection from the cool nighttime temperatures on Tehraia. As the timer on his wrist interface blinked to indicate a time of 8:14 P.M., Fox reached for his room's door handle. To his surprise, Krystal grabbed his paw and prevented him from opening it.

"Where are you going, Fox?" the Cerinian nervously asked, clutching at his wrist.

Fox could see the worry in her eyes that gave away the reality that she was pleading with him not to leave her side. "I have a job to do, Krystal. Don't worry—you'll be fine. I promise."

The look in his strong, emerald eyes seemed to send a signal of hope to her, causing her to feel safe, even though he would not be able to be there for her tonight. Desperately hoping that his absence would only be very brief, Krystal asked him, "When will you be back?"

Fox lowered his head and uncomfortably looked at the beige plaster in between the black floor tiles before sullenly answering, "Tomorrow morning. I'll have to stay somewhere else tonight."

Krystal frowned and disconsolately watched as Fox opened his door and prepared to leave her for the night. "Fox?"

"What is it, Krystal?"

"Please—be safe."

"I will," Fox replied, smiling and giving the timid Cerinian a caring pat on the shoulder before he stepped out of the room and into the hallway, where Scarlet was waiting for him. Krystal only managed to catch a glimpse of the red vixen for three seconds, but it was more than enough time for Scarlet to flatten her ears and bare her teeth at the Cerinian before the door clicked shut, leaving Krystal alone in Fox's room for the night.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):_

_I can't believe it's been more than a month since I last updated this story; but if I'm honest, I can't really say that I'm sorry. I definitely needed the time off to regroup, get my ideas together, and get back into the right state of mind after writing _6 Days and 23 Hours_, which I can truthfully say is one of the saddest Star Fox stories ever written, especially if you're a Fox x Krystal fan like myself (Read it through to the end- you'll see what I mean. But if you do, make sure you have a box of tissues at the ready; because you seriously might need them).  
_


	6. Chapter 6: Subterfuge, Part 1

**Chapter 6: Subterfuge, Part 1**

With Krystal locked away in Fox's room, Scarlet nonverbally scowled at the vulpine, voicing her emotions without saying a word. Fox knew that her angst was fueled by his kindness to Krystal, but the last thing he planned to do was apologize for it. He had no regrets about sheltering the unfortunate vixen, regardless of what his bounty hunting comrade thought about it.

Scarlet's dry, assertive voice quietly broke the silence in the empty hallway. "Let's go, Fox."

Fox nodded in assent and began to follow the vixen, who had dressed herself in a black and red bodysuit of the same variety as the uniform that she had worn the previous night. In her left hand was the large Yaruitian road atlas that she had purchased earlier that day. Fox found it unbelievably difficult to pull his eyes away from Scarlet's posterior; and eventually, he gave up trying to focus on his footsteps altogether as he watched her hips sway to and fro with a cadence that was profoundly seductive. He was so entranced by her movements that when she stopped in front of the hotel's elevator to press the down arrow, he continued walking and slammed into her.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Scarlet angrily exclaimed, giving Fox a quick, sharp shove in the chest.

"Oh… I…uh… Sorry, Scarlet!" Fox frantically stammered as he attempted to extricate himself from the highly embarrassing situation that he had fallen into. "I got distracted."

"Uh huh… sure you did," the vixen crossly replied, folding her arms in front of her chest and frowning at him as the elevator door opened. Both foxes entered the ornate elevator with Fox still profusely apologizing for his lack of concentration. "I'm sorry about that! I didn't mean it!"

Scarlet rolled her eyes and immediately silenced him with a quick smack to his hind end, causing him to blush furiously. "Shut up," she gruffly demanded. "Get over it. It's not my problem that you can't focus on where you're going."

Still feeling completely and utterly ashamed of himself, Fox remained silent as the elevator descended all the way down to the ground floor, where the underwater tunnel that led to the resort's hangar area could be found. Scarlet led the way, with Fox closely following her and frantically looking for something interesting to look at other than her backside. However, it was a losing fight. After the two foxes had stepped onto the escalator that would take them to the spacecraft hangar, his gaze immediately fell to the area around the base of her long, red tail.

At that moment, Scarlet turned to look at him and immediately realized why he had plowed into her in the hallway. However, instead of becoming angry with him, a slight smile crossed her lips. "I told you that my face is up here, Fox," she jokingly taunted, pointing at her muzzle with a mildly suggestive grin on her face. Fox was so humiliated that he felt as if his entire face was on fire due to the rush of blood to his cheeks. All that he could do was mumble "Sorry about that" while looking at the escalator tracks at his feet.

Changing the tone of her voice to reflect a more serious attitude, Scarlet said, "Fox—listen. I don't mind if you stare at me. I really don't. I'm aware of what this kind of clothing does to men like you." She paused for a moment and continued, "…But, really, you need to learn to focus on the task at hand. I am _not_ going to watch you be killed because you couldn't stop staring at my butt. If you're in a combat situation and you're distracted, you're as good as dead."

"I know," Fox sullenly replied, lifting his eyes up to meet Scarlet's deep blue ones. "I can't help it. I've been onboard a ship with two other guys for more than two months straight, and then I come here and run into _you_. It's a bit more than I can handle right now."

"I can imagine," said the vixen, leaning up against the escalator's hand rail as it slowly moved towards its destination on the other end of the underwater tunnel. "Well, at some point, you're going to have to get used to seeing me wearing this. I'm not going back to my old clothes again, that's for sure."

"Why is that?" Fox asked.

Cracking a smile, Scarlet answered, "If you have to know, I used to wear really baggy cargo pants and tank tops. I thought it was a good outfit, but it didn't turn out too well the time when my belt got caught on a railing while I was running for my life. Come to think of it, that's also when I made it a point to always wear underwear. Man, that was embarrassing."

Fox smiled and shook his head at the thought of what must have happened to Scarlet after her incident. Moments later, the escalator brought the two vulpines to the hangar area's door, which Fox courteously opened for Scarlet. The air and spacecraft parking area looked essentially the same as it did the day before, when Fox had parked his Arwing and secured it to prevent anyone from accessing it without his authorization. Not that it would have been necessary, however. An armed guard was always on duty, patrolling the hangar and manning the controls to the sliding roof whenever one of the hotel's guests needed to leave.

Scarlet guided Fox past a motley assortment of spacecrafts to the spot where she had docked her fighter after arriving at the Oasis resort. To Fox's surprise, the blood red fighter than he had landed next to was none other than Scarlet's interceptor.

"That's yours?" Fox skeptically asked.

"Yep," Scarlet enthusiastically replied. "The Gaia Artemis Mk. III Interceptor—it's the best thing the company's ever made; and that's saying something. How do you feel about flying it tonight?"

Fox ran his eyes across the red fighter's sleek fuselage and noticed the oversized g-diffusion fins that would certainly make his piloting experience much smoother. Airborne movements would be more easily controlled, and the fighter would also be less prone to flight-related anomalies. At the moment, the Artemis' foils were locked in a rear-swept configuration; but when the ship would lift off, their geometry would be altered, with the outer halves of the wings facing forward to provide exceptional aerial maneuvering in addition to greater responsiveness at high speeds. Pleased with what he saw, Fox confidently replied, "I think it'll work just fine."

"Great!" said Scarlet, "Climb up the wing and open the cockpit. I'll get in after you."

Fox obediently followed her order and scaled the Artemis Interceptor's heavily swept left wing before balancing himself on the ship's frame and pressing the canopy release button. The two halves of the glass enclosure slowly opened from the middle with a very quiet hiss along with the almost imperceptible sound of a small electronic motor. Being cautious not to catch any of his clothing on the edge of the glass canopy, Fox lowered himself into the red and black pilot's seat while Scarlet began to scale the ship's wing. As before, Fox's attention was immediately directed towards the vixen as she lithely and gracefully pulled herself up to where she would be able to access the aft portion of the interceptor's cockpit.

Fox was glad that Scarlet lacked Krystal's telepathic abilities, because if she could have read his mind, she most likely would have slapped him upside the head. Or would she? Fox wondered if Scarlet actually appreciated his lustful thoughts regarding her. He pondered the possibility that male attention—no matter how impure—reaffirmed her belief that she was worth desiring. At least to Fox, it made very little sense why she would need to be reminded of her own intoxicating beauty.

He turned his head to look at Scarlet as she nimbly slid into the navigator's seat behind Fox and pressed a nearby button, which closed the canopy and sealed the two vulpines inside. One of the first aspects of the fighter's interior that stood out to Fox was the enthralling smell that permeated it. The alluring scent was none other than Scarlet's own perfume, which he profoundly liked, as opposed to most other feminine fragrances. Apart from the most obvious element inside the Artemis' cabin, the other objects that attracted his attention were the one-piece holographic interface and the surprising lack of any auxiliary buttons.

"Is it all controlled from the screen?" Fox asked.

"It is," Scarlet replied, "Once you turn the ignition on, it should light up and give you the full list of commands. Some people think it's confusing, but I like it. Buttons and I have a hate/hate relationship. The controls in my old fighter kept getting stuck. Eventually, I got fed up with it and demanded a one-piece touchscreen instead."

"Interesting," Fox murmured as he hunted for the ignition, which he eventually located at the very top of the fighter's interface. The red fighter's engines roared to life with an organic, pulsating rumble that was in sharp contrast with his Arwing's mechanical whine. From the back seat, Scarlet noticed Fox's ears perk up at the noise, which he appeared to be very fond of. "I thought you might like that," she said with a smile. "I had the drive yard fit my fighter with Class D fusion engines. Very expensive, but the sound alone is worth it."

Moments later, the hangar guard's voice came through the ship's communications system, asking Fox, "Artemis Mark 3, do you wish to leave the hangar? Remember, all air and space vehicles are strictly prohibited from re-entering the hotel grounds after 9:00 P.M. Please either confirm or deny."

"Yes, I want to leave the hangar," Fox assured the guard while gripping the fighter's small, metallic flight stick and subtly increasing the engines' output to warm them up.

After a two second delay, the guard replied, "Affirmative, sir. Opening the hangar roof." The metallic panels slowly began to separate, revealing the darkening evening skies that were filled with more stars than Fox had ever seen while on a planet's surface. From the location of the Oasis, the light pollution was almost nonexistent, allowing stars of all sizes and colors to be clearly viewed. Looking up into the dark purple expanse above him, Fox briefly attempted to locate the Lylat System before he returned his attention to the ship's controls and slowly raised the red fighter out of the hangar and into the skies of Tehraia.

While Fox directed Scarlet's Artemis fighter towards the city of Yaruit, the vixen behind him opened her recently-purchased road atlas and began to intently study the city's most noteworthy landmarks and establishments; specifically, the spaceport where the large transport hovercrafts had most likely taken delivery of their cargoes. Although a ride to Yaruit in one of the Oasis resort's chauffeur vehicles was a twenty minute trip at the very least, the speeds generated by the red interceptor allowed them to travel much more quickly. In less than seven minutes, the bright lights of the city were clearly visible from Fox's pilot seat.

Turning his head and looking back over his seat at the vixen seated behind him, Fox asked, "Where to, Scarlet?"

The bounty huntress temporarily lifted her eyes up from her road atlas and replied, "Land somewhere near the spaceport, but keep it quiet. We don't want to alert anyone to our agenda. It's likely that the people working for Carache will recognize my fighter if you get too close. After I get out, wait until I give you a call. I'll explain the plan then."

"Got it," he calmly said. "Where's the spaceport?"

"It's near the middle of the city. It shouldn't be too hard to find, seeing as it's the only open area for miles around. I want you to drop me off on the outskirts, so you don't have to get clearance to land."

"Alright, Scarlet," he replied, "I think I'm seeing it now."

Lowering the thrust output from Scarlet's fighter's powerful engines, Fox carefully maneuvered around a particularly tall silver skyscraper and began to scan the ground below for a suitable place to land the Artemis and allow Scarlet to initiate her part of the plan. He was roughly a mile away from the airspace around the spaceport, which meant that the vixen would have to walk a reasonable distance if she wanted to move any closer to the loading docks.

"Fox—that parking lot down there looks good," Scarlet eagerly suggested, pointing downwards with her finger at the mostly-unoccupied asphalt expanse where a small assortment of motorized vehicles were parked. Heeding her advice, the vulpine cut the fighter's power almost completely and slowly descended to the pavement before Scarlet pressed the button that opened the fighter's canopy and leapt out with the grace and precision of a professional gymnast. "Just hold tight, Fox. I won't be long."

While Fox powered off Scarlet's Artemis Interceptor, the vixen began to carefully make her way towards the busy spaceport, throwing her silenced sidearm over her back and remaining out of sight as much as possible. The portion of the city where she had instructed Fox to land was a minimally-populated industrial area of the city, which allowed her to move without causing any commotion among the local residents. Not wanting to keep Fox waiting but also not wanting to waste her energy, she briskly walked towards the loading docks, where the large hovercrafts belonging to Asgard Industries would be waiting for their cargoes.

The large cranes and braces belonging to the cargo-handling area of the spaceport came into Scarlet's view after slightly over five minutes. The spaceport itself was surrounded with a barbed-wire fence, blocking any attempt at an unauthorized entrance. However, this was of no consequence to Scarlet, who had intended to remain legally outside the premises for the sole purpose of ascertaining the existence of Asgard's supply containers. For two minutes, the vixen attentively watched the spaceport traffic fly overhead and motor past on the inside of the premises until she saw a large hovercraft cross the concrete pad in front of her.

That was her cue to initiate the next phase of her plan. After watching as a large container with a winged 'A' emblem was loaded onto the solitary hovercraft, the vixen lifted her communicator to her lips and contacted Fox. "Fox—they're about to get moving. Get airborne and start watching for them."

"Understood," Fox replied, "But what are you going to do, Scarlet? Didn't you say that you were going to try to block their transport route?"

"That's right, Fox. I'll figure out a way to do it. Your job is to keep an eye on them so you can tell me where to go when I find something that I can block the road with."

Slightly concerned about Scarlet's spur of the moment planning, the vulpine worriedly asked, "You're not going to steal something, are you?"

From the other end of the line, Fox could hear a faint laugh coming from Scarlet before she cunningly answered, "Maybe…"

Fox shook his head in exasperation, but regardless of his dislike for his counterpart's methods, he knew that he still needed to follow through with his part of the bargain. With the skill of an experienced fighter pilot, he quickly powered up Scarlet's Interceptor and slowly raised the fighter into a hover two hundred feet above the ground. Looking towards the gated exit of the spaceport's cargo handling area, he watched as the heavy hovercraft passed through the opened gates and started along the avenue bordering the spaceport.

Speaking into his wrist gauntlet, he relayed the position of the transport to Scarlet, who was hunting for a large vehicle which would be robust enough to take a moderate amount of damage and still remain operational. "Scarlet, I see the transport. It just left the loading dock."

"Thanks, Fox; but I'm still looking for something that'll work. Just give me a second," the vixen replied before silencing Fox's call and anxiously scanning the area for a vehicle that would suit her needs. There were a few motorized vehicles in the industrial area outside the spaceport, but most of them were cars and light trucks. She would need something more substantial if she wanted to have a chance of bringing Asgard's hovercraft transport to a halt.

Her location at the moment was a quiet lot used by a concrete company. Several cement trucks were parked in various places around the premises, but Scarlet immediately discarded any thoughts of using one of them to pursue her quarry. They simply were not quick enough to give chase to the hovercraft, which was surprisingly quick and nimble in spite of its prodigious size. Across the street from her was a dark gray warehouse next to a closed-down metal working plant. The vixen did not know if it was an operational business, but due to her limited options at the moment, she decided to investigate it further.

Upon closer examination, she noticed a faint hint of smoke rising from the worn-down structure, which stood three stories high and sported numerous windows, all of which were badly stained or shattered. Unfortunately, no vehicles were parked anywhere around it. However, within seconds, she noticed a pair of headlights emanating from the wide open, dimly-lit industrial street ahead of her. Not wanting to be spotted, the vixen ducked behind the corner of the derelict building and waited until the car passed. Strangely, it never did. Instead of continuing down the road, it stopped in front of the ancient warehouse building with the telltale grinding noise of gravel being displaced.

With the utmost care, Scarlet peeked her head out from behind the corner of the building and watched as three armed soldiers leapt out of the vehicle that had come to a stop in front of the warehouse. The soldiers, however, were the least of her concern. The vehicle they were using was a heavily armored transport truck that would be absolutely perfect for what she was attempting to accomplish. The last thing she wanted to do at that moment was something foolish, but she knew that her ticket to another completed mission lay with carjacking the armored security truck. "_This isn't going to be easy_," she muttered under her breath as she observed the three fully armed soldiers, all carrying fully automatic assault rifles that packed far more of a punch than her heavy semi-automatic blaster could have ever hoped to. _"…But then again, nothing worth doing ever is."_

To avoid being spotted, the vixen pulled her head back from around the corner and breathed deeply in an attempt to slow her racing heartbeat to a level that would not impede her clear thinking. For several seconds, she waited, crouched down on one knee with her ears attentively twitching and listening for any new noises. Her momentary patience was rewarded with the sound of one of the armed guards knocking at the front door of the warehouse. Soon, the knocking sound was followed by the creaking of rusty door hinges as the door slowly swung open. Quickly and with extreme caution, Scarlet looked around the corner again and observed that the other two guards were stationed outside with the vehicle, which was still running. She attempted to listen in on what they were saying, but the clattering noise of the armored truck's heavy diesel engine prevented her from hearing any of their words.

The situation was not going to become any easier for her. The longer she waited, the more of a head start Asgard's hovercraft would have. Time was truly her worst enemy in her current situation. She saw no alternative to hijacking the armored truck, but she was outgunned two to one—or three to one if the one guard who had stepped inside the building reemerged back into the brisk night air. The more she thought about her predicament, the more she realized what had to be done. It would be far from pretty, and it would also be potentially life-ending for her.

"_I can do this. I've been in tighter situations than this before."_

Taking a deep breath and slowly curling her fingers in and out, Scarlet cocked her blaster and held it at the ready. This was it. If her plan failed, she would be killed; and no one she worked for would care, with the exception of her boss and possibly Fox. The vixen knew that he was quickly becoming antsy in the cockpit of her fighter. The hovercraft was drawing closer to the weapons dealer's warehouse with every second that she refused to make a move; and the more time she spent deliberating, the less time she would have to catch up.

Feeling the reflexive properties of epinephrine overwhelming her system, Scarlet stepped out from behind the corner of the warehouse and opened fire on the guards, who were standing at attention next to the armored truck's flank closest to the door belonging to the dark gray building. She pulled her blaster's trigger as rapidly as possible, putting fire rate over accuracy in a desperate attempt to overcome her numerical disadvantage. Because her blaster was silenced, she was able to take down one of the guards before he could react. However, the second of the two guards stationed outside the warehouse took almost no time at all to respond to the suddenly critical situation.

The large canine soldier dove behind a nearby dumpster outside the building to avoid being struck by Scarlet's gunfire, while the vixen quickly and frantically looked around for evidence of any other troopers in the area. She could hear the soldier desperately attempting to contact his other comrade, who was inside the building. It would only be a matter of seconds before he would emerge with a hail of laser fire that would burn her fur and reduce her to the corpse of a once-beautiful vixen. The area in front of the warehouse's front door was covered by a small awning with two concrete steps leading up to a landing that acted as a sort of doormat for the entry area. Apart from that, there was nothing in the immediate vicinity—other than the armored truck itself—that could provide her with an adequate amount of cover from the enemy's laser fire.

Regaining his composure, the second guard leaned out from behind the dumpster and fired a volley of laser fire at Scarlet, barely missing her as she dropped onto her hands and feet and crawled up to the steps leading to the flat concrete landing in front of the warehouse door. For a moment, the canine soldier ceased firing before a very faint vibration came to the vixen's sharp, attentive ears. The guard who had gone into the building was on his way out. Feeling as if her blood had turned to ice, Scarlet frenetically snapped one of her small sticky grenades off of her utility belt and hurled it in the direction of the front door. Less than a second later, a solid object flew through the air and bounced across the concrete landing to a stop less than ten feet in front of her. It was a single, brown, frag grenade.

"Whoa!" the vixen screamed, clawing her way to her feet and kicking up a flurry of gravel while trying to escape from the immediate blast radius of the expertly-lobbed grenade. In that moment, every last trace of calculated thought disappeared from her mind. In its place were sheer terror and the adrenaline-fueled will to stay alive. Completely ignoring the guard who had just stepped out from behind the dumpster less than thirty feet ahead of her, Scarlet broke into a run, attempting to escape the imminent grenade blast by crouching down behind the side of the armored truck that faced away from the building. Mercilessly, the guard held down the trigger on his assault rifle, striking Scarlet in the right shoulder and causing her to scream in agony as the laser blasts scorched her red fur and caused her muscles to feel like they had been sliced apart by a butcher's knife.

The only reason that Scarlet did not collapse on the ground in pain was because of the amount of adrenaline that was flowing through her veins. The vixen gritted her teeth and cleared the front right corner panel of the truck the instant that both her grenade and her enemy's grenade exploded simultaneously. Immediately after a temporary wave of relief washed over her after she realized that she had survived the blast, the vixen began to experience the extreme pain that permeated her right shoulder and the arm muscles below it. She had been shot before and had experienced every ounce of pain that came along with being at the receiving end of a laser blast; but despite her experience in the field, it was no less painful than before.

Hoping that her grenade had done its job and taken the life of the guard inside the building as he neared the door, Scarlet awkwardly reached for the truck's door handle with her uninjured left hand and pulled it open with a great deal of frantic effort. With the door still open, the vixen lithely clambered into the cabin and dove into the driver's seat.

"HEY!" the only remaining soldier shouted at the top of his lungs as he sprinted towards the commandeered truck with the single, unorganized goal of reclaiming it from the brazen thief that had dared to attack him, kill his two comrades, and steal his company's vehicle with complete disregard for the valuable cargo that it contained. He dove for the opened passenger side door just as Scarlet shifted the truck into drive and floored the throttle, flinging gravel into the air behind the vehicle's wide drive wheels. The desperate guard fell on his face in the gravel as he watched as his vehicle motored away from him before it quickly turned around and began heading back his way with a disconcerting amount of velocity.

"OH NO! NO NO NO!"

Inside the armored truck, Scarlet braced herself for the solid "whump" and cracked a dark smile after bringing the final guard's miserable existence to a gruesome end. Perhaps running him over was too harsh a way to end it for him; but nevertheless, Scarlet felt the need to punish him for wounding her and further complicating her mission—not to mention that with him out of the picture, no one would be alive to report the theft of the armored truck to their supervisors.

With step one of her plan completed, Scarlet raised her communicator up to her muzzle and told Fox, "I've got a ride. Tell me where to go."


	7. Chapter 7: Subterfuge, Part 2

**Chapter 7: Subterfuge, Part 2**

In the driver's seat of her commandeered security truck, Scarlet winced in pain as she dared to glance at her wound for the first time. "Dammit," she snarled. The impact from the laser blast that she had suffered earlier had opened up a large gash in her upper right bicep. Blood freely flowed out of the incision, dripped down her fur, and began to pool on the truck's treadplated steel floor. As if that alone wasn't enough, the area around the cut had been hideously burned and seared by the laser fire.

If the situation had been less dire, Scarlet would have bemoaned the impact that her injury would have on her appearance. However, more important elements were at play at the moment. First on her agenda was her consistent, rapid blood loss. If she did nothing about the red liquid dripping onto the floor, she would bleed out within minutes. Common sense would have told her to call off the mission and beg for Fox to come and help her; but the vixen was determined not to lose what may have been her only opportunity to take down her target.

Seeing no other option, the red vixen ripped her sharp, cruel knife out of its holster and set to work cutting off part of her bodysuit's left sleeve while steering with her knees and attempting to guide the ungainly vehicle back towards the city's main interstate. After slicing the stretchy fabric, Scarlet placed her knife on her lap and set to work tying the severed piece of clothing into a passable tourniquet.

"_Crap… this means I'm going to have to shoot left-handed tonight," _she thought to herself, frowning at the mere suggestion of being forced to fire her weapon with her 'bad' hand. The truth was that she had trained herself to be ambidextrous in a variety of activities, although her dominant right-handed traits still remained the same regardless of anything she did to improve her left-handedness.

Her bleeding diminished noticeably after the application of the tourniquet, but it was quickly replaced by a growing numbness caused by the blockage of the arteries that normally would have fed a steady stream of blood into her arm. "_I'll have to get used to it,"_ she muttered to herself, "_It sure as hell beats bleeding out on the floor and dying._"

Catching a glimpse of the road that would (hopefully) lead her in the direction of Yaruit's largest interstate, the vixen awkwardly gripped at the armored truck's sizeable steering wheel and forced the lumbering behemoth onto the small side road. The turn seemed far more difficult than it should have been, but with her right arm feeling almost completely numb, that was to be expected. Giving her clumsy right hand a rest, Scarlet lightly draped the weakened appendage over the steering wheel and switched her wrist communicator to a speakerphone setting with her other hand.

"Fox, do you still have a visual on the hovercraft?" she asked, using the brief stretch of straight tarmac to calm down after the harrowing series of events that had befallen her.

"Yes, Scarlet, I've got an eye on it. It's on the interstate right now. You might be able to catch up to it. It's in the slow lane, and it's not moving as quickly as the rest of the traffic."

"_Of course I can catch up to it," _Scarlet internally snapped, "_You have __**no **__idea who you're working with, Foxy boy." _With her physical voice, the vixen replied, "Thanks, Fox. Oh—by the way, did you link the tracker in my interface with my Artemis' HUD?"

"Yes, I did," Fox answered. "I can see you right now. You're going to want to take the next right."

"I know, Fox—but thanks anyway," she replied in a tone of voice that almost seemed comforting—even loving, perhaps.

Fox allowed a quick smile to cross his lips while he fastidiously kept his eyes locked onto the hovercraft that was nearing the target's warehouse at a steady, deliberate, unchanging rate of speed. For reasons unknown to him, he found himself enjoying assisting Scarlet on her mission. Normally, he would be the one with the difficult, pressuring task that would often end up taking a potentially deadly turn; but for tonight, the weight of the mission was loaded squarely on Scarlet's shoulders—one of which was badly injured and wrapped in a makeshift tourniquet.

Scarlet had yet to explain her injury—or the extent thereof—to Fox, leaving him to assume that all was proceeding according to plan. There could have been one or more suitable reasons for her to remain silent about her rather serious wound. The first hypothesis was that she simply didn't consider it important enough to mention to Fox. The mission would still be completed, and when all was said and done, the injury would be a distant afterthought.

However, the second possibility was that she did not want to reveal any kind of weakness to Fox. The vixen's mind was wired to survive and to appear strong even when her body was clearly sending signals that indicated otherwise. Would it have been too much of a stretch to say that it was an issue of personal pride? More likely than not, the answer would have been 'no.'

Now though, her painful injury was the least of Scarlet's concerns. In a matter of seconds, the sign for the on-ramp to the Yaruit Metropolitan Interstate flashed into view, courtesy of the armored truck's high-intensity headlights. Determined not to waste a second in her pursuit of Asgard Industries' hovercraft transport, Scarlet pressed the vehicle's throttle pedal down, but not all the way to the floor. Fortunately for the wounded vixen, the truck was equipped with an automatic transmission, allowing her to avoid using her damaged arm for the most part.

Scarlet carefully planned her line through the inclined corner leading to the highway, allowing her to exit onto the interstate at the same speed as the rest of the rapidly-moving traffic. Seeing an open area in the lane to her left, she pushed the throttle to the floor and pulled into the lane before the onramp entry merged into the highway. For the moment, she found herself stuck behind a large semi truck that seemed to be moving relatively quickly; although it wasn't as if she had another option. The traffic on the interstate was very thick, and she was boxed in from every angle without a chance to change lanes.

Feeling the familiar feeling of frustration creeping in, Scarlet radioed Fox and asked him, "How far back am I?"

Fox's voice was tinged with concern as he responded, "About three miles, Scarlet. You're going to have to pick it up."

Scarlet growled from her side of the line and aggressively shoved her truck's turn signal indicator down, prompting a left-facing arrow to appear on the truck's dash interface. A blue family sedan was traveling in the lane next to her, but she paid it no mind and slowly began to creep towards the lane adjacent to her. The driver of the blue car panicked and honked his horn in protest when he saw the armored security truck moving closer to him; but when he realized that Scarlet had no intentions of stopping, he slammed on his brakes, causing the driver behind him to crash into his vehicle. With the lane to her left now clear, Scarlet guided the armored truck into the third lane from the right with the intention of entering the highway's far left lane, which was reserved for individuals with a special VIP pass. She glanced in her mirror and noticed the collision behind her, which had in turn triggered a multi-car pileup consisting of more than twelve vehicles.

"_Lucky me,_" Scarlet thought, "_That wreck will keep the cops off me for at least a few more minutes._"

From above, Fox had been watching as Scarlet forced her way into the lane and triggered the large-scale accident. An exasperated scowl appeared on his face as he shook his head in disbelief. "_What a loose cannon,_" he thought to himself, feeling a smile attempting to force its way onto his muzzle. In spite of what he wanted to believe, he had to admit that he found Scarlet's methods entertaining in the sense that no one he had ever known would have dared to do what she did on a day-to-day basis. Keeping his eyes fixed on the hovercraft several miles ahead of Scarlet's position, he thought about a possibility that he had never considered before.

"_If she's any good with a fighter, she'd be perfect for Star Fox. She doesn't take 'no' for an answer, she's fun to be around, and to top it off, she's drop dead gorgeous. I couldn't think of anyone better for the job._"

Somehow, though, he had the feeling that if he presented Scarlet with the offer, she would refuse in favor of flying solo as a bounty huntress. Still, Fox decided that if the chance presented itself, he would ask her to join. Now though, he had a job to do, even though it was admittedly very simple. The hovercraft transport seemed incapable of exceeding 60 miles per hour, and as a result, it was forced to remain in the far right lane with the other slow-moving traffic.

Scarlet, on the other hand, was on a completely different path—literally. Not long after she had cleared yet another lane, Fox's eyes widened as the vixen slowly moved her stolen vehicle towards the VIP lane. "_She won't do it—that would be stupid," _Fox thought to himself.

"_No way."_

Scarlet brazenly crossed the double-dotted white line separating the VIP lane from the rest of the highway before flooring the armored truck's throttle and accelerating the heavy vehicle to a speed in excess of 85 miles per hour. Fox looked down and to his left and saw that two police cars were already at the scene of the multi-car wreck that Scarlet herself had instigated without the slightest care. The highway behind her had already regressed into gridlock; and with the police tied up while attending to the accident, Scarlet found herself with a temporary window of opportunity that would allow her to avoid trouble with the local authorities.

From above, Fox watched as the gap between Scarlet and the hovercraft began to shrink. Several drivers blew their horns and flashed their headlights at Scarlet, who was clearly in violation of the law. Even if she actually had been in possession of a Yaruit VIP pass, the vehicle that she was driving was in a class that was not allowed to access the VIP lane under any circumstances. Almost oblivious to the traffic around her, the vixen shrugged off the lights, horns, and the occasional middle finger as if she didn't care about any of it. Catching up to the hovercraft was her only goal. Even the constant, nagging numbness in her right arm failed to slow her down in the least.

While Scarlet continued to make up the ground that she had lost while commandeering the armored truck, Fox turned his attention to the skies around him and noticed three fighter-class spacecrafts entering his airspace. Concerned about a possible altercation, he spoke into his communicator and nervously explained to Scarlet, "Hey, three fighters just showed up. What should I do?"

"What do they look like?" the vixen asked in response.

"Desert camouflage with orange outlines," Fox answered. "Do you know anything about them?"

Scarlet's expression took on a mildly concerned quality as she bared a tooth and bit her lip. "Malkovich fighters," she explained, "Only Salvatore Pietro's gang uses those. They're not hostile, per se; but it worries me that they'd show up here."

"Who's Salvatore Pietro?" Fox asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable with his situation above the city of Yaruit.

Scarlet's dry voice returned through the Artemis Interceptor's onboard speakers with an evident hint of distaste for the name of the man Fox had inquired about. "Pietro is the leader of the largest mob family on Skallis. He holds so much power that he can legitimately be considered a force to be reckoned with. My boss has had dealings with him in the past, but he's definitely not someone you want to trust. Don't worry though—they'll identify the Artemis and then they'll probably ignore you after that."

"Thanks, Scarlet," Fox replied, closing the communications channel and returning his gaze to the hovercraft, which seemed to be ready to exit the interstate in favor of the darker inner-city streets. Quickly re-opening his channel, he contacted Scarlet and alerted her to the new development. "Scarlet, the hovercraft is taking the next exit. You're going to have to find a way to get into the right lane—fast."

"Got it, Fox," she answered, albeit in a tone of voice that seemed to be filled with concern and worry.

Inside the spacious cabin of the armored truck—which had begun to reek of blood—Scarlet glanced up at the large blue traffic sign that read "Milato Avenue Exit—1/2 mile." There was no time for subtlety. The traffic was far too thick for her to navigate the hefty truck into the far right lane by using any normal methods. Clenching her teeth, the vixen flipped her right blinker on and sounded the truck's powerful horn, warning any drivers around her to move out of the way. When the driver of a white SUV to her right slowed down to allow her to move into the line of traffic, she jumped at the opportunity. To her great delight, the lane to the right of that quickly opened up as well. She only had one more lane to clear, but by now, the exit was less than a quarter mile away.

Feeling herself beginning to sweat, Scarlet panicked when she saw the exit ramp—along with the bumper-to-bumper traffic that was attempting to leave the interstate. The hovercraft had abandoned the metropolitan highway and taken to the dark downtown streets one full minute ago; and if Scarlet missed her exit, any chance of catching up to it would be completely and utterly lost.

In that moment, she only had one option. "_Of all the times for this to happen, why did it have to be now?"_ she muttered to herself, knowing full well what her next movement entailed. Taking a quick, deep breath, Scarlet swerved to the right and slammed into the side of the car next to her, displacing it with a great deal of commotion and claiming its place on the exit ramp behind a large white van. A cacophony of horns immediately sounded, with the drivers behind her angrily voicing their protests. Along with the horns came a sound that she never wanted to hear—a police siren. Looking in her mirror, the vixen saw a pair of flashing green lights behind her, near the back of the line of cars that had exited the interstate.

Cursing under her breath, she mouthed the words, "_You've got to be freaking kidding me." _She was well aware that the odds of escaping from the police in an armored security truck were extraordinarily slim, but pulling over was definitely not an option, for obvious reasons. The traffic light at the bottom of the off-ramp was green, although within seconds, it switched to yellow. Because three cars were still ahead of her in line, there was no way that she would make it through the light before it changed to red.

Feeling the combined effects of panic and adrenaline shooting through her, Scarlet swerved out of the lane and raced down the road's shoulder, skirting the grass off to the side and clearing the few remaining vehicles in front of her just as the light turned red. Refusing to stop, Scarlet frantically rounded the corner with the police car in pursuit, uprooting a "no right turn on red" sign on the side of the road. The "clang" of the metal sign against the front of the armored truck caused her to jump internally, but she kept her focus on the road ahead.

From the pilot's seat of Scarlet's interceptor, Fox looked down at the developing chase with disbelief in his eyes—not because he thought that Scarlet would actually be able to get away with road rage whilst driving with a figurative brick in her shoe, but because of the sheer amount of bad luck that she had to overcome. And he was still unaware that she was badly injured.

Half a mile away, the flashing green lights of another police cruiser awakened as the officer in command of the vehicle received word of a fleeing armored truck that had already caused significant damages to both public and private property. The vehicle's 'stolen' status was a given, as both officers in pursuit of the vixen knew that no security truck driver would ever operate a commercial vehicle in such a reckless fashion.

Trying her best to ignore the pursing police car that was soon to be receiving backup, Scarlet turned her attention to her ongoing pursuit of the hovercraft and barked into her communicator, "Fox! Where do I go now?"

Fox's voice was shaken by the turn of events as he replied, "Take the next left and then the right turn after that. You're not too far behind. You're going to have more company, though…"

"…And that's why I need your help, Fox," Scarlet interjected.

"_Uh oh…" _Fox thought, "_Please don't tell me to shoot the cops, Scarlet…_"

Guiding the lumbering truck into the left turn lane, Scarlet flung the vehicle through the sharp corner onto a lightly-used downtown avenue that only allowed traffic to travel in one direction. While watching for the side street that she needed to take, she heard the threatening sound of the pursuing officer's voice emanating from a bullhorn mounted next to the squad car's right mirror. "Pull over now! I repeat—pull…over…now!"

"Not going to happen," she snarled, gritting her teeth and turning the armored truck down the narrow side street. The darkened alleyway was fraught with potholes that shook the heavy vehicle's frame, causing it to feel as if the truck's suspension was fused in place. "Fox, I can't get away!" the vixen yelled into her communicator, "You're going to have to take them down!"

"Dammit, Scarlet! You know I can't do that!" he shouted in reply.

Clearly unhappy with her counterpart's inability to follow orders, the vixen snapped, "What's more important to you? Keeping your precious record clean or getting the job done? You say that you're a mercenary, huh? Well, you'd better start acting like one, deadweight! Get these guys off me!"

"I…I can't! It's not right!"

"Gah!" Scarlet moaned in frustration as she began to hear the telltale sound of a police helicopter entering the chase to assist the two squad cars that were already in hot pursuit of the stolen armored truck. "Fox, where do I go next?"

"Left turn up ahead. You're getting closer," he replied, his voice full of concern for Scarlet even though he refused to take action and assist her in her plight.

Scarlet was far too preoccupied to notice, but the city around her began to morph from the upscale, modern architecture of Yaruit's upper district into the dingy streets and alleys of the city's Projects. The weapons dealer's warehouse couldn't be far. Only making the situation worse was the fact that if she couldn't bring the chase to an end, she would completely jeopardize her mission, even if she was still able to catch up to the hovercraft. She needed help, but her comrade refused to give it to her due to his moral convictions.

No options remained except for one, and it was a long shot. Eyeing the apex of the upcoming corner, Scarlet clipped the edge of the concrete sidewalk and shot the armored truck out onto a neglected industrial road that was reminiscent of the area where she and Fox had been attacked the previous night. Then, with the police sirens blaring in her ears, the vixen tapped the "open frequency" button on her wrist interface and frantically yelled into it, "Can anybody read me?"

"Um, yeah…" came a voice that was somewhat muffled by the sound of a noisy fighter powerplant. "Who's this?"

The vixen refused to answer the question and instead presented one of her own. "Are you with Pietro's gang?"

"Yeah?"

Scarlet's ears immediately erected themselves. "Listen up," she commanded, "This is Scarlet, working for Felix Sparta, CEO of the Gaia Corporation. I know you've had dealings with him before, so I need to ask a favor from you."

"Ah, Miss Scarlet," the pilot replied, chuckling lightly. "This is Damien Pietro. I was wondering where you ran off to after…"

"…Damien, listen—I need you to get these cops off me. My mission will fail if I can't ditch these guys, and my guy in the air isn't cooperating."

The pilot's voice quickly took on a serious tone. "I'll see what I can do," he replied, gripping the control stick of his desert-colored fighter and diving towards the city below him. Within seconds, he had sized up the situation above the dingy urban streets of the city. Two police cruisers were vehemently pursuing a large armored truck, and a white helicopter was in the air above the chase, shining a spotlight on the truck as it attempted to escape from the local authorities. "Hang on, Scarlet," he muttered, manipulating his fighter's throttle and placing his index finger on his flight stick's FIRE button.

Seconds later, he squeezed the trigger, sending out a flash of laser fire that ripped through the police chopper, sending it plummeting towards the ground in a fiery blaze. The desert-painted fighter soared through the falling debris and rapidly dropped altitude until it was less than a hundred feet off the ground. The officers pursuing Scarlet had been alerted to the sights and sounds of the chopper being annihilated, causing them to look behind them in time to see their aggressor closing in for the kill. The fighter rapidly increased its speed, coming in for a pass with all guns blazing.

"NO! We're done for!"

In mere seconds, the formerly white and green police cars were reduced to charred, smoldering ruins by the attacking fighter, which soared over Scarlet's commandeered vehicle and climbed altitude until it was merely a dot in the sky above the city. "Thanks, Damien," said Scarlet, exhaling heavily.

"Not a problem."

If only for a moment, all was quiet. The armored truck's diesel engine persisted in its consistent roar, but apart from that, silence reigned inside the cab with Scarlet. With her pursuers out of commission, Scarlet allowed her tense muscles to relax while she realized how close she had been to failing the mission that she had been wanting for more than three months. She was grateful beyond belief that a former comrade had been around to lend her a hand, because if he hadn't, she would be in a very different situation. However, the thought that occupied her mind the most was one of absolute hatred for Fox and his refusal to come to her aid when she needed it most.

Speaking into her wrist unit, Scarlet growled, "Fox, buddy—you owe me an apology."

"But…Scarlet…"

"But nothing, Fox!" the vixen snapped. "I'm going to let this slide, but if it happens again, I'll make sure that you pay for it! Now, how far back am I?"

Feeling flustered and conflicted, Fox replied, "Less than a half mile. He took the next right."

"Thanks, Fox. At least you're good for _something_," she scornfully muttered, turning onto the industrial front road that ran passed a series of abandoned loading docks. For the first time since she had seen it at the spaceport, the hovercraft came into view. After minutes of frantically searching for a vehicle to use, illegally racing down the interstate, and being forced to deal with the city's police forces, she had finally caught up with it. Now, her predicament changed from wondering how she would catch up to wondering how she would be able to stop it. The vehicle that she was driving was significantly smaller than the oversized hovercraft transport, meaning that a 'direct' course of action would be inadvisable. Even though the armored truck was very heavy and large, the hovercraft would overpower it in a collision.

Scarlet was no novice in situations such as this, and her capable mind had already formulated an idea. Unfortunately, it involved a great deal of physical exertion, which was not something that she felt she was capable of with her arm numb and in a tourniquet. "_This is all I've got,_" she groused. "_I don't have another option._" Stepping on the throttle, Scarlet pulled alongside the hovercraft. The howling fans on its rear half created an immense ruckus while the dust from the unkempt street flew into the air around the large vehicle. A sharp left turn appeared in the distance—roughly a half-mile away. There was no more time for pondering a course of action. There was only time for action itself.

Gritting her teeth together, Scarlet floored the armored truck's accelerator pedal and pulled ahead of the hovercraft. She could almost sense the confusion coming from the large vehicle's driver, but she ignored her conscious thoughts, relegating as many of her movements to the subconscious region of her brain. The next few seconds were a blur to Scarlet. She reached down onto the metal floor pan of the armored truck and picked up her knife. Then, she sliced her seat belt in half, standing up inside the speeding vehicle and making her way to the truck's right door. She wanted to remove her tourniquet to give her arm an opportunity to be slightly more functional than it was at the moment, but she thought about the potentially-fatal blood loss that would result. "_No, I can't cut it yet._"

While the armored truck began to lose speed with no one behind the wheel, the hovercraft once again pulled alongside. "_It's now or never,_" Scarlet muttered. Taking a deep breath, the vixen unlatched the passenger side door and forced it open with her uninjured left arm, causing the noise of the wind to become almost deafening. For just one solitary second, she held the door open and glanced down at the asphalt between the truck and the hovercraft. Then, she forced whatever was left of her strength into her legs and jumped, knife in hand.

As the vixen flew through the turbulent air, she feared that the gap between the two vehicles had been too great. She refused to look down, instead eyeing the hovercraft's green metallic deck, which Asgard Industries' container rested upon. With fear in her eyes, Scarlet prepared herself for the possibility of coming up short and falling unto the asphalt at more than 40 miles per hour. Such an impact would either grievously wound her or kill her almost instantly, depending on how she hit the pavement. "_Oh, please—not tonight…_"

_*Clang!*_

Scarlet crashed down on the metal deck, landing on her left shoulder. Immediately, a wave of pain shot through her entire left arm, only adding to the numbness which she felt in her other arm. The pain, however, would have to wait. The driver of the hovercraft immediately noticed that something was amiss. The instant that Scarlet saw the reflection of the driver's reptilian face in the hovercraft's large mirror, she knew what was coming next. Still lying on her chest, Scarlet frantically crawled forwards, digging her combat knife into the metal plating and using it to help her move towards the gray container. The vixen's eyes were immediately drawn to the numerous thin, unpainted, vertical poles that protruded out from the corrugated surface of the container. The poles had been built into the dilapidated cargo unit to increase its structural rigidity, but Scarlet saw a different use for them.

She lunged forwards and gripped the post near the middle of the gray container just as the hovercraft rapidly slowed and rotated to the right, attempting to fling her off the deck. The stinging from the impact of her landing was only exacerbated by the stress of having to hold on with only one hand. Scarlet let out a quick yelp in pain, but she kept her mind clear enough to plan her next step. After trying and failing to throw Scarlet off the large transport, the hovercraft's driver and his cohort flung open their respective doors and leaped out, handguns at the ready; but by that time, Scarlet had jumped to her feet and positioned herself with her back against the hovercraft's blocky cabin.

The driver's hoarse, harsh voice resounded through the city's night air. "Come out! We know what you're doing here!"

Scarlet felt her breath rate increase as she pulled her blaster over her head from behind her back and armed it. The only sound the weapon made was a metallic 'click' that was impossible to discern over the ceaseless background noise of the metropolis around her. Her ears began to pick up the harsh tapping sounds created by two pairs of boots slowly approaching her position—one from each side of the hovercraft's cabin. She pressed her blaster into her left shoulder, preparing herself to spring from her position. "I said come out!" the guard screamed once again. It had been far from his intent, but the sound of his furious voice immediately communicated to Scarlet that he was less than three feet from her position.

It was then that Scarlet decided to make a move. Taking several quick, stressed breaths of air, the vixen raised her blaster and stepped out from behind the corner in one synchronized movement, swinging her weapon downwards just as the driver reached the back left edge of the cabin. Scarlet's blaster crashed down on her enemy's handgun, causing its user to open fire out of reflex. The shot harmlessly bounced off the hovercraft's heavy cargo deck with an orange flash and a shower of sparks. With the reptilian out of his rhythm, Scarlet took the opportunity to bring her knee up into his crotch, eliciting a sharp scream from her enemy. The physical maneuver was followed by a low kick that swept the driver's legs out from under him and sent him crashing to the cargo deck near the back corner of the cabin.

Wasting no time, the vixen aimed her blaster at his face and finished him off without taking any time to observe the results of her work. The hovercraft's co-pilot heard the hollow blast from the other side of the bulky craft and immediately dropped his guard, sprinting around the back right corner of the cabin, fearing that the worst had happened. He was operating entirely on his emotions—exactly the way that Scarlet wanted him to. The bounty huntress pressed her back against the left side of the cabin and mentally counted "_One…Two…_" before the guard rounded the corner. His lack of planning resulted in him being slammed across the face by Scarlet's blaster. His entire world relapsed into a chaotic blur dominated by a red vulpine figure, who spun her body around and delivered a punishing back roundhouse kick to his sternum. He immediately knew that she had fractured it, because a searing pain shot through his chest the instant that the vixen landed her kick. He fell to the deck and screamed in agony as the color black slowly began to creep in on his vision. The last thing that he saw was the red vixen standing over him with her blaster aimed at his face. And then it was over.

*_Bang!*_

With no one left in her way, Scarlet clicked her blaster's safety on and climbed into the hovercraft's cabin before shutting both doors, which had been left opened by the driver and his co-pilot. For over a minute, she simply sat in the driver's seat, allowing her heart rate to drop to its normal tempo. Her rushed breathing slowly normalized as the epinephrine began to filter out of her bloodstream in the wake of one of the most ambitious hijackings that she had ever taken part in. Still feeling out of breath, she spoke into her communicator, "Fox, I have the hovercraft. I'll take things from here. Land the Artemis somewhere close by and wait for my cue."

"Got it, Scarlet," Fox replied. After a brief pause, he stammered, "Um… A…are you okay?" He immediately regretted asking her the question, but for some reason, he felt that it needed to be asked.

With a tinge of frustration in her voice, Scarlet answered, "Not really, Fox. To be honest, I'm still bothered that if I hadn't known one of those pilots, this mission would have been a bust. I was counting on you, Fox—and you let me down. That's why I stopped trusting people years ago. They'll all abandon you eventually. They don't really care about you; they just see something in you that they want for themselves. When that 'something' is gone, they'll ditch you right when you need them the most."

"Scarlet, don't say things like that. I'm sure someone cares about you."

"I don't think so, Fox," Scarlet disappointedly replied. "I suppose your excuse for not helping me is valid, but I'm still not happy about it. When the job calls for it, you have to be ready to do whatever it takes, no matter how wrong it seems."

A deep sigh was audible from Fox's side of the communications line. "Sorry, Scarlet; but I have to disagree with you. I'm not that kind of person."

A long silence dominated Fox and Scarlet's comm. link until Scarlet quietly said, "Just land the Artemis and wait for me. I won't be long."

* * *

**_Meanwhile, elsewhere in the skies just outside Yaruit…_**

"Leo, Eduardo, you remember Father's instructions. Scan the desert around the city in a fifty mile radius. We're looking for a downed transport ship, colored black. It was supposed to be destroyed a day ago, but we never got a confirmation on the blast. Heinrich probably got too pretty with the explosives again."

"That's the third time he's failed a demolition job like that," Leo whined. "He's too efficient for his own good. Sometimes, more really is more."

With a thick accent, Eduardo added, "I'll back you up on that," before looking over at his brother Damien, who was flying next to him. "So, Damien, did Father tell you why we're doing this?"

Damien shook his head and replied, "All he said was that there's a certain Cerinian that he wants dead. She goes by the name 'Krystal'. Father wants photo evidence of the body, as well. He'll explain it after the job is done."

"Fair enough," Eduardo conceded, wrapping his silver vulpine paw around his desert-colored fighter's flight stick. "Let's go hunting, then."

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):  
_

_That was quite a twist, wasn't it? So, will Scarlet be able to take down her target? What will happen to Krystal? And where does Fox end up in all of this? Find out next chapter, coming sometime in the (relatively near) future!  
_

_And as always, reviews and comments are welcome._


	8. Chapter 8: Subterfuge, Part 3

**Chapter 8: Subterfuge, Part 3**

Fox lowered Scarlet's Artemis Interceptor to the tarmac of a nearby abandoned parking lot. The space fighter touched down with a faint 'whoosh' of air, followed by a quick mechanical whine as Fox disengaged the ship's powerful engines. With his part of the operation complete, all that he had to do was wait for Scarlet to complete her infiltration of the weapons dealer's warehouse.

Yet, somehow, he felt unsatisfied with his actions. He had refused to subdue the police that had been pursuing Scarlet, thereby leaving her to contact an old friend who happened to be in the vicinity. He knew that the odds of such an eventuality were almost nonexistent; and if he hadn't been around to help, the mission would have been a complete failure.

In the silent cockpit, Fox frowned and pondered the recent chain of events. He clearly remembered Scarlet's harsh criticism of his moral choice to refrain from taking action in the midst of her crisis.

"_You say that you're a mercenary, huh? Well, you'd better start acting like one, deadweight!"_

He knew that she was right. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that while he may have claimed to be a mercenary, he was not acting the part. His job was to protect Scarlet and give her driving directions, and he had failed to do the former of the two. In frustration, Fox brought his palm to his face and shook his head, regretting his decision to leave her to her own fate. "_What good is a mercenary who doesn't follow orders?"_ he wondered to himself. "_Useless—that's what._"

While he continued to mope, his wrist communicator rang. Directing his eyes to the screen, he noticed that it was Scarlet who was attempting to contact him. He braced himself for the scolding that he was about to receive from her and pressed the 'answer' button with great reluctance. Raising the comm. screen to his lips, he spoke. "Fox here. What is it?"

Instead of delivering a biting series of deprecating words to him, Scarlet spoke to him in a pleading voice that he hadn't heard from her yet. "Fox, can I trust you? I really think I need your help here. But if you're going to screw me over again, you can forget it—along with your cut of the bounty."

"I'm really sorry about that, Scarlet," Fox apologized. "What's going on? I thought you said that you could handle it on your own."

"I didn't tell you this, but I'm injured pretty badly," she explained. "My right arm's wrapped up, and I'm going to have to shoot left-handed. I don't know if I can do this alone, so that's why I'm asking you for help."

Fox sighed and looked out of the canopy towards the empty loading docks near the parking area where he had landed Scarlet's fighter. "_This might be my only chance for redemption,_" he thought. However, when he started to reply to Scarlet's request, he realized that his blaster was still in his Arwing back at the Oasis. He hadn't counted on needing it, but now it was a necessity. "Scarlet, I'd love to help; but I left my blaster in my fighter," he explained.

"No problem—I've got two Asgard Industries assault carbines right here," the vixen replied. "Use your tracker to find me. And please—don't make me wait, Fox."

"Copy that, Scarlet. I'll be there ASAP." Fox pressed the canopy release button on the edge of the center console, causing the sheet of glass to rise. The chilly night air blew through his jacket and penetrated to his fur as he climbed from the cockpit and secured the craft to prevent it from being used without authorization. Being watchful for any unfriendly locals, Fox hurried through the streets, following the yellow navigation beacon on his wrist interface. The dot that marked Scarlet's position was less than two miles away. Given his current rate of speed, he estimated that it would take ten minutes for him to reach her location.

While Fox sprinted towards the commandeered hovercraft, Scarlet set to work stripping the uniforms off the two Asgard employees who had been responsible for overseeing the transportation of the valuable cargo container that rested on the hovercraft's loading deck. Making sure to hold on to any I.D. cards or chips that she could find on them, she stowed the uniforms inside the vehicle's cabin and then dragged both bodies into a nearby alley where nobody would see them. Even though the process took Scarlet seven minutes to complete, Fox had still not yet arrived. To pass the time, the vixen pulled one of the black security uniforms over her skin-tight catsuit and examined the weapons that the two employees had been carrying. The print on the left side of the stock read "Asgard Industries HC-31, .308 x 1.5 ballistic. Serial number 13025552"

"Oh great," Scarlet muttered, "You couldn't afford to give your guards _real_ weapons now, could you? It figures that those bureaucrats at Asgard would give them this mass-produced crap."

The vixen looked over the various components of the weapon and found very little of it to her liking. "_Badly-fitted_ _plastic stock, cheap polycarbonate grip,_ _clumsy trigger, nonsensical iron sights—_just perfect." She sighed and shook her head, almost laughing about Asgard expecting their employees to be able to protect anything with weapons that weren't equipped for much more than 'spray and pray' gunfire. The HC-31 was a simplistic design that was intended for ease of production over performance; and as such, the rifle was not known for accuracy. However, it was reliable, in spite of Asgard Industries' well-known and infamous cost-cutting measures.

She decided that her accurate blaster would be more effective than the ballistic assault rifle for what she was attempting to do—not to mention that her blaster was silenced, unlike the HC-31, which was earsplittingly loud under fire. The vixen placed the gun back down on the loading deck and waited for Fox to arrive. In less than a minute, she heard the sound of rushed footsteps moving towards her. The noise was followed by the figure of Fox sprinting out from a nearby alleyway. He stopped by the side of the hovercraft and briefly looked it over, surprised at its size.

"Come on, Fox," said Scarlet, offering her good hand and helping to pull him up to the loading deck. She pointed to the rifles on the metallic surface and joked, "Take your pick. They're identical, and they both suck equally. They _are_ better than nothing, however."

"Wonderful," Fox scoffed, picking up one of the HC-31's and pressing it into his shoulder. "What a piece of shit." He lowered the rifle and pointed it at the deck, following the safety protocols that he had been taught at the Academy before asking Scarlet, "Have you figured out how we're going to get into the warehouse yet?"

Scarlet smiled and answered, "Kind of. I killed the driver and his navigator and then took their uniforms, as you can see." She pointed to herself. "How does it look?"

"The bodysuit was a better look for you," he mumbled in response.

"Of course you would say that," Scarlet laughed, "I can't blame you, though. Anyway, yours is in the cab. I held onto their I.D. tags, so we might be able to use them to access some of the rooms inside the warehouse. What I'm going to do is drive the hovercraft over to the loading dock on the side of the building. I expect a few guys to come out and help unload the container. When they do, just go along with them and help unload whatever's in there. That's how we'll get in. If they ask any questions, just try to buy time. We'll need as much of it as we can."

"Got it. Let's go then."

Fox and Scarlet walked across the hovercraft's loading deck and climbed into the spacious cab, closing their respective doors as Scarlet fired up the vehicle's engines. The noise of the fans quickly overpowered any and all other sounds in the nearby vicinity. "Your uniform's on the floor in front of you, Fox. You'd better get changed—the warehouse isn't far," Scarlet explained, pointing at the black clothes that formerly belonged to the hovercraft's navigator.

Fox's face shifted into a frustrated scowl. "You planned this, didn't you?"

The vixen gave Fox a cruel smile and began to taunt him. "What's the problem? Afraid to show me some fur? Consider it your punishment for ditching me when the cops were after me."

"I told you I was sorry!"

"Not sorry enough," she smirked. "Now take it off!"

Completely humiliated, Fox removed his jacket while leaving his black t-shirt on. He attempted to bare as little fur as possible in front of the vixen, who was enjoying every second of his misery. "Nope! That black shirt won't work! Get rid of it!" she remarked, trying to avoid laughing in glee. Noticing that the outfit on the floor also contained a white shirt, he growled and pulled his shirt over his head, eliciting a whistle from Scarlet as she rounded the street corner where the armored truck had crashed after she jumped from it.

Visibly angry at the vixen, Fox hurled his discarded shirt at her face, where it caught and hung from her muzzle. The vixen laughed and pulled it off of her face before throwing it back at Fox, who blushed furiously. Bracing himself for the inevitable catcalls from Scarlet, Fox unlatched his trousers and pushed them down so forcefully that he almost pulled off his underwear as well. It was fortunate for him that his boxers caught on the base of his tail; because otherwise, he would have found himself naked.

Fox panicked when the hovercraft came to an unexpected stop in the middle of the road for seemingly no reason. "What's going on? Are we there?" he demanded, trying to fit into the black uniform trousers that were designed with a slender reptilian figure in mind.

"No, I'm just enjoying this way too much," Scarlet replied, giggling like a kit. "Go ahead—take your time."

For the next several seconds, Fox forgot to think. All that he remembered afterwards was that he had managed to dress himself faster than he ever had before. The clothes were far too tight for him, but they were on, nonetheless. He wondered how Scarlet could possibly appreciate the attention her body brought to her, because he felt completely ashamed of himself after the short incident.

Even though Fox was dressed, Scarlet's smile refused to leave her face. That is, until the weapons dealer's warehouse came into view. Two can lights mounted on poles provided the illumination for the dilapidated building, even though only the one on the left was functioning. Two machinegun-wielding guards stood at the building's front door. Scarlet ignored the soldiers and slowed the hovercraft, steering it towards the large concrete pad in front of the loading docks. As the vehicle smoothly crested the cracked concrete bump that separated the pavement from the concrete, another pair of yellow lights above the first loading bay door came on. The corrugated door rolled open, and three black-garbed workers emerged from inside the building. The first of the three, a male leopard, motioned for Scarlet to reverse the hovercraft towards the loading dock.

The vixen carefully moved the large vehicle backwards, making use of its large mirrors to check her bearings and to avoid coming into contact with any obstacles. She backed the hovercraft up until the leopard on the top of the loading dock motioned for her to stop. "Go time, Fox," she whispered in a dark voice that communicated the seriousness of the situation to Fox. On cue, Fox and Scarlet opened their doors and walked across the cargo deck before setting foot on the concrete surface of the loading dock, where the workers had already opened the container. Trying to look useful, the two vulpines marched into the container and attempted to assist the workers in removing its contents. However, the three Asgard employees had already picked it up. From what Fox and Scarlet could tell, the cargo was a silver metallic box with a curious-looking logo printed on the side. The emblem was a globe with steel bars crossing it from both axes. Twelve spikes jutted out from the sphere, and a circle was positioned in its center.

"Have you seen that before?" Fox whispered into Scarlet's ear.

"Never," Scarlet answered. "This makes things a bit more interesting. Come on—let's move."

Trying to look like they belonged to the work crew, Fox and Scarlet feigned confidence and stepped into the warehouse. The interior of the building was poorly lit, forcing both vulpines to use their keen eyes to discern their surroundings. The employees carried the silver box down a nearby staircase to the lower level. Fox and Scarlet followed them, although the vixen began to worry that their cover was about to be blown. Sensing the possible urgency of the situation, Scarlet grabbed Fox by the collar and pulled him aside as they reached the bottom of the stairs. The vixen moved back underneath the staircase, behind a hot water heater. She crouched with her back to the wall against the left side of the stairs and whispered to Fox, "We've got to find another way around. I've got a bad feeling that they might be onto us already. The way that leopard looked at us when we walked in is starting to worry me."

"What do you suggest we do? Fox asked.

Scarlet pointed to a metal door to the right and said, "See that door? Let's go through there. The sign says that it goes to the storage area, so it might give us a good lead on what's going on here."

"Got it," Fox agreed.

"Stick close to me," Scarlet whispered, creeping out from under the stairs and opening the door as quietly as she possibly could. Fortunately, the old door made very little noise as it swung open. After Fox closed it, he and Scarlet found themselves in a hallway that was illuminated by a series of worn-out fluorescent lights that flickered on and off repeatedly. The hallway ended in a 90 degree left turn.

Scarlet armed her silenced blaster and took the lead, crouching against the left wall and holding her gun in her left hand. Fox cocked his assault rifle, but Scarlet quickly reprimanded him. "No—not yet. It'll be too loud. Let me handle it for now."

Fox obeyed and slung his rifle over his back, following Scarlet as they neared the left turn. For a second, the vixen peeked around the corner and confirmed that the hallway was still empty. "Come on, Fox. Let's go. That door at the end of the hall looks like our best bet."

The two foxes crept down the dimly-lit hall. Another metallic door was at the end of it. To the right was a large laundry room, and to the left was a tiled locker room. The room was presumably unisex, as the sign next to it simply read "Locker Room/Shower Area." The hallway itself was completely silent—until the sound of yelling came through the ceiling above them.

"_Intruders, you say?! Who are they?! How did they get in?!"_

"_It's two foxes, sir. One male and one female. I think they hijacked the hovercraft and got in by posing as Asgard workers."_

"_Damn it, Roberson! Find them and kill them! I can't have anything being compromised—not now."_

"_Yes sir."_

Scarlet turned to Fox with a harsh scowl. "That was definitely Carache's voice. There's no way I'll let that sick bastard take me alive."

"What do we do now, Scarlet?" Fox asked, looking around the hallway and listening for any new noises.

The vixen narrowed her eyes and tightly gripped her blaster. "There's only one way out, Fox. We're going to have to fight for it." She continued, "But we have to deal with Carache and the weapons dealer. There's no sense in coming here just to fail the mission."

Fox felt his pulse rising as the reality of his situation set in—and he loved it. It was the first time in years that he had felt this way. The thrill of combat had been absent from his life for far too long, and tonight, it ended. He couldn't have had a better counterpart for it, either. Even though she was injured, Scarlet was a fierce fighter with more than 12 years of experience under her uncomfortably tight belt.

Fox once again pulled out his HC-31 and readied it; but to his surprise, Scarlet put her hand on the weapon and told him, "Not yet. Wait until the time is right. I've got a hunch about this."

"Alright, Scarlet," Fox conceded, putting his rifle away.

"Wait—hold up."

Scarlet's ears picked up the sounds of several pairs of boots in a nearby room. The volume level subtly increased until the noise was unmistakable. Her eyes widened when she realized that the door at the end of the hallway was about to be forced open. "Fox! Get into the locker room, now!"

Without hesitation, Fox and Scarlet bolted into the nearby room, which had no door. Both of them frantically scanned the space for a place to hide, but the central floor area was almost completely exposed. Several wooden benches were arranged in front of a series of lockers that occupied most of the room's perimeter. On the wall in the back right corner of the main floor was a sign that read "Shower Area." The entire room smelled strongly of body spray and male body odor, although this was to be expected in a base occupied only by men.

Resisting the urge to panic, Scarlet grabbed Fox and pulled him around the corner into the shower area, where twelve medium-sized shower enclosures were located. In the middle of the rectangular 'sub-room' was a double sink; and between the two sinks was a first aid kit, located below the paper towel dispenser.

Snatching the plastic box off the counter, Scarlet turned to Fox and ordered, "Turn on the water in the shower behind you and get in. I don't care how crazy it sounds. It's the only way we can get out of this.

"Okay…" Fox uneasily replied. Feeling uncertain about Scarlet's plan and worrying about the guards that were about to enter the hallway outside the locker room, he pulled open the black shower curtain and stepped into the nearest shower stall. The white enclosure behind the shroud was surprisingly clean compared to the rest of the building. The water controls appeared to have been updated within the last year, and instead of coming from a showerhead, the water came from the ceiling itself. Following Scarlet's orders, Fox accessed the advanced water controls and selected a temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Seconds later, water began spraying from the ceiling. As he walked towards the back corner of the relatively spacious stall to avoid being drenched, Fox heard the sound of a belt being undone and a zipper being pulled down.

Seconds later, the door in the hallway outside the locker room opened, and the guards burst into the narrow space. Almost immediately after that, Scarlet pulled open the black curtain and stepped into the shower, wearing nothing but her plush red fur. She put her blaster down in the corner of the stall and set the first aid kit on a nearby shelf, completely ignoring Fox's shocked expression.

Before Fox could comment about Scarlet's lack of clothing, one of the guards sprinted into the locker room and roared, "Hey! Did you see anyone suspicious around here? We're looking for two foxes!"

Attempting to sound as crass and undignified as possible, Fox yelled over the noise of the running water, "Nah—I ain't seen anything 'round here! Now get out! Give a guy some privacy!"

"Sorry," the guard grunted, turning around and leaving the locker room before rejoining his comrades in the sweep of the area.

With the guards out of the picture, Fox focused his attention solely on Scarlet. He noticed that her upper arm was covered in blood—some dry, and some wet. However, his eyes quickly wandered…elsewhere. Noticing a certain 'stiffness' creeping up on him, he seated himself in the back corner of the shower and crossed his legs. Scarlet turned towards him and laughed, knowing exactly why he was huddled up in the back of the enclosure. Her smile seemed to fade when she stepped into the water flowing from the ceiling. She held up her arm, soaking it in hopes that it would help to clear the blood and allow her to properly sanitize the wound she had received from the guard responsible for protecting the armored truck.

As the water trickled into the gash, Scarlet yelped in pain and sank to the floor, although she resisted the urge to cry. "Are you okay, Scarlet?" Fox asked with a shaky voice.

The vixen turned her head and answered, "I think so, Fox."

Wincing in agony, Scarlet lowered her hand and peeled away some of the dried blood. To her dismay, some of her fur was lost in the process, although things could have been much worse. Her bleeding had been reduced to a mere trickle; and soon, it would stop entirely as long as she avoided sending too much blood to it before it had the chance to heal. Knowing that their location was unknown for the moment, Scarlet turned towards Fox, flicking her tail on the wet shower floor.

The only noise in the area was the consistent pattering of the water falling to the floor. Scarlet seemed relaxed, even though most others of her kind would have been horrified had they found themselves in her position. She closed her eyes and pictured a beachscape, using the positive energy to add to her relaxation and to slow her blood flow.

All the while, Fox continued to stare at her. For reasons that he found himself unable to explain, he felt guilty for doing it, even though Scarlet didn't seem to mind. As the water ran down the vixen's fur and dripped onto the tile floor, Fox thought about Krystal and how disappointed she would be if she knew about what he was doing. It wasn't his fault that his adventure with Scarlet had landed him in a shower with her, but it _was_ his fault for lusting after her. In his defense, his hormones were firmly preventing him from taking his eyes off of Scarlet's almost perfect figure.

Scarlet opened her eyes and looked at Fox with a welcoming smile before she stood up and walked over to the corner where Fox was seated. Carefully lowering herself to the floor, the vixen sat down next to him against the wall. She kept her feet extended just far enough for the shower to sprinkle them while she leaned on Fox's shoulder and breathed a deep sigh. Fox was speechless. This sort of thing only happened in his dreams, except that this was reality. He looked over at Scarlet, who met his eyes and smiled back at him. "Don't get any ideas, Fox," she said, "We've still got a job to do."

After another minute, the vixen stood up and turned off the water. Then, she snatched up a white towel that was hanging in a compartment near the front of the shower enclosure and began to dry her fur with it. After her pelt was sufficiently dry, she opened the first aid box that she had placed on the nearby shelf and pulled out a roll of medical tape and a can of salve. After applying a splotch of salve to her wound and wrapping it up with the tape, the vixen replaced the two items, picked up her blaster, and held it with her right hand to make sure that it was fit for use. The deep smile on her face confirmed that her interesting method of recovery had worked.

"Ready, Fox?" she asked, opening the shower curtain and stepping out.

"Oh, um…sure," he replied, snapping his focus back to the task at hand. While Scarlet pulled on her clothes, Fox looked through the door space leading out to the hallway to make sure that no one was around. Then, after ascertaining that the derelict hall was unoccupied, he turned his attention back to Scarlet as she finished zipping up her catsuit and buckling the belt on the black Asgard uniform that seemed to fit her better than it should have. After putting the matching jacket back on, Scarlet raised her weapon again to see if her arm was still holding up. "Good news, Fox—it looks like it's worked," she said with a grim smile.

Fox said nothing in return. His mind was still locked in the past—two minutes in the past, to be precise. The image of Scarlet showering was burned into his mind; and he had the feeling that she would be making an appearance in his dreams if he didn't start thinking about something else. Of course, that was impossible. His mouth felt irritatingly dry he followed the dangerously attractive vixen out of the locker room and into the hallway outside. The guards had left the area and were searching the rest of the base for the two vulpines, leaving the door at the end of the hall unguarded.

"Be ready for anything, Fox," Scarlet warned, "You can arm your gun now."

As quietly as possible, Scarlet turned the rusted silver doorknob and opened the door. Her latex boots made almost no noise as she crouched and stepped into the hall behind the door. With his back to the left wall, Fox followed her movements. The hall was shaped like a 'T' that had been rotated, and at the end of the hallway extension that branched off to the right was a door with a telltale 'biohazard' emblem on its worn gray surface. An access pad took the place of a doorknob, preventing any unauthorized access to the room behind the door. "Fox, use the I.D. card I gave you," Scarlet whispered.

Fox nodded his head and silently approached the touchpad, which contained a card reader on its right side. "Here goes nothing," the vulpine whispered, sliding the stolen I.D. card through the card reader. To his surprise, the red light above the pad turned green, and the door unlocked. Pushing it open, Fox and Scarlet entered the room, which was completely dark. Noticing a light switch to the right of the opened door, Fox flipped it on, revealing rows and rows of what appeared to be vulpine soldiers. Half of them were white, and the other half was blue. Both males and females were represented equally in the stationary display. None of them made the slightest sound or movement. Their eyes were all closed, and they were dressed in matching black suits of advanced combat armor. The enigmatic globe emblem with twelve spikes was printed on each one of the soldiers' chest plates with metallic silver ink.

Slowly closing the door behind him, Fox examined one of the blue-furred males. A feeling of concern began to rise up inside him; and to make sure that he wasn't alone in his worry, he looked toward Scarlet and whispered, "I think we're onto something big here."

Scarlet was poring over a white-furred vixen whose facial features bore an uncanny resemblance to Krystal's. Resisting the urge to snarl, she turned and faced Fox. "I'm with you, Fox. This isn't making sense, though. Why would Carache be here if there's a third party at play? He only cares about his own business."

Fox scratched his muzzle and thought about a possible motive for Scarlet's target to employ the services of a third party. He knew nothing about Carache's nature or his history, but that wasn't about to stop him from thinking up an answer. "The weapons dealer who owns this place used to help Andross back when he was alive. If Andross would come to him for help, this guy really knows what he's doing. My guess is that Carache is using the weapons dealer's services to help him build something that he and his men don't have the ability to understand."

"Yeah, but what about _this_?" Scarlet retorted, pointing at the inanimate vixen beside her.

"Let me think," Fox muttered, pacing back and forth while running several different scenarios through his mind. "Hold on—I think I've got something."

"I'm listening."

"I think Carache might be acting as a middleman. This third guy might have hired him to build these…_things_ for him; but if he didn't have the technology or the brains to do it, he'd have no choice but to come to the genius here," Fox suggested.

Scarlet lowered her head and grumbled to herself. "Hmm…" she replied, "It's not like him to do that. If he went this far out of his way to satisfy his client, that guy must be either loaded with cash or in charge of a planetwide army. I have a feeling that we're going to find out who's behind this before too long."

"That's not good," Fox grimaced, putting his hand on the back of his head like he tended to do when he was nervous. "What do you think we should do about it?"

"I don't think there's much we can do right now," Scarlet replied. "However, if we take down Carache, this third person might lose his supplier. Asgard Industries would be in turmoil without him."

"I guess that means we stick to the plan, then," Fox muttered, moving towards the storage room door. "Let's get done and get out of here."

Unlike before, Fox took the lead and opened the heavy steel door after flicking off the room's lights. The hallway outside was still unoccupied, at least from Fox and Scarlet's point of view. Considering the possibility that Scarlet's hearing was better than his own, Fox turned to the vixen and whispered, "Can you hear anything?"

Scarlet shook her head.

"I don't know if that's good or not," Fox said under his breath, staying close to the right wall and turning the corner back into the main part of the hallway. At the end of the corridor was a door, and to its left, a staircase. "Which one?" Fox asked.

"I heard Carache's voice from the floor above us earlier, so I'd assume that's where we'll find him. Trouble is, he's probably got a few of his grunts around him." The vixen looked down at her belt and took stock of her supplies. "I've got one more sticky grenade, but I don't have any other explosives."

"That's okay. We'll make do with what we have. All it takes is one good shot," Fox assured her. Listening for any cues that would indicate a guard's presence in the area, Fox and Scarlet ascended the staircase to the building's main level. There was no door at the top of the stairs—only another hallway. However, unlike the ones on the base level; the hallways on the main level were noticeably wider, and they appeared to have been remodeled with newer composite materials.

"Look for any signs that point towards a central area. From what I could tell about the building's design, there should be a large room on this floor somewhere," Scarlet whispered, keeping the noise to a minimum.

Fox nodded in acquiescence and scanned the nearby walls for anything that might have helped him with his bearings, but he found nothing. Also worrisome was that his heavy boots made a quiet thumping sound every time he took a step, unlike Scarlet's suit-integrated shoes, which were completely silent.

Both foxes froze in their tracks when they heard the sound of angry voices behind them in the corridor. The noises seemed to be coming from around the nearest corner, and they increased in volume with every second that passed. Fox and Scarlet's eyes darted around the hallway, looking for some kind of cover. The closest room was an office twenty feet to their right—and it was occupied. The light was on, and the squeaking of a wheeled chair was audible from the room. There was nowhere to go.

In seconds, a silver fox and a black hawk stepped around the corner and spotted the two vulpines. "Get 'em!" the avian roared, whipping out his assault rifle while his counterpart yelled into his wrist communicator, "Intruders confirmed in hallway 2B! All units converge!"

Fox's adrenaline spiked as he reached for the rifle slung over his back. Flicking the safety off, he shouldered the HC-31 and opened fire on the two guards who had stepped out from around the corner. The bullets raced past both of them, nearly claiming their lives before they ducked behind the corner to escape the hail of lead.

Upon hearing the earsplitting noise, the reptilian in the office near Fox and Scarlet's position spun his chair around, leapt to his feet, and drew his handgun; but Scarlet was ready for him. With the whisper of a suppressed laser burst, the vixen dropped him to the floor the instant he stepped out of his office.

"Fox! They're going to try to pin us in! We've got to move!" Scarlet yelled, her voice barely registering in Fox's shell-shocked ears. The vixen didn't give Fox time to respond. She took off running away from the two guards who had first spotted her and Fox, ready to open fire on anyone or anything that posed a threat to her.

"Scarlet! That room to the right!" Fox hollered, pointing at a set of double doors flanked by an orange sign that read, "Main Lab Area."

"Yes! That's it! Open the door!"

Fox clutched the door handle and threw open the heavy metal plating, allowing Scarlet to enter the area just as more than a dozen more guards appeared in the adjacent hallway. Several laser blasts screamed past Fox's ear, hitting the door and the wall next to it while he turned on his heels and fired from the hip into their midst. None of his shots caused any harm, but it was enough to buy him the time he needed to enter the door and slam it behind him. Dropping into a crouch, he put down his rifle and locked the doors from the inside, preventing anyone from accessing the central lab area.

The lab area itself was defined by a central rectangle, roughly 40x40 feet in size. The space around it resembled a parking deck, with numerous concrete columns reaching from the floor to the ceiling, providing critical structural support to the building. A large number of desks and computers were scattered around the perimeter of the room, along with a veritable sea of discarded papers that littered the ground and gave the area an air of neglect. In the center of the rectangle was a small, squared area with a large, vacant table occupying it. On the back side of the room sat a dark gray transport ship with the all-too-familiar winged 'A' emblem painted on its side. Grunts and yells could be heard as two figures—an iguana and a scrawny coyote—attempted to push a heavy cart up the transport's extended rear ramp.

Hysterically, Scarlet screamed, "That's him, Fox! Shoot him!" At that moment, a hail of laser fire erupted against the front wall where Fox and Krystal were standing. "Damn it! More guards! Fox! Cover me! I'm going after Carache!" Gripping her blaster with both hands, Scarlet broke into a run along the right perimeter of the room, using the various desks and cabinets for cover against the guards attempting to shoot her. Before she reached the room's right corner, the vixen noticed the leopard that had recognized them when they had entered the base. The soldier was approaching from her left, attempting to block her from reaching Carache and the weapons dealer, who were still frantically trying to force the wheeled cart into the Asgard Industries transport ship's cargo bay. Still running, the vixen kicked her legs out in front of her and slid across the floor, firing her blaster repeatedly. Two of the silenced laser bursts struck her target in the chest. The feline slumped to the floor with a hoarse shout and then grew silent.

Three more guards still remained in the room. Trusting Fox to protect her even though she knew better, Scarlet leapt to her feet and sprinted down the right side of the chamber towards the transport ship. The concussive blasts from Fox's ballistic rifle shattered the air inside the hollowed-out area, immediately causing Scarlet's ears to ring. She glanced over her shoulder towards the square in the center of the room and saw that Fox had dropped one of the three soldiers. Not more than a second later, she saw a raccoon soldier taking aim at her.

Full of adrenaline, Scarlet dove into a roll, avoiding the shots that would have killed her. In seconds, she jumped back to her feet, backhanding her blaster and firing across to the left side of the room, where a black-furred terrier was lining up a shot from opposite side of the chamber. The fire from Scarlet's blaster flashed past him and struck the room's left wall, causing him to jump behind one of the nine columns that supported the ceiling. Without hesitation, the vixen ripped her final sticky grenade off her belt and hurled it in the direction of the canine soldier. The blue sphere stuck to the bottom of the concrete column while Scarlet unleashed a round of shots on the other soldier, catching him in the arm and causing him to scream in pain. "Finish him off, Fox!" Scarlet yelled across the room. Her command was followed by the sound of more rifle bullets being ejected from Fox's HC-31. She didn't take the time to see if Fox had hit his target. Carache was her only priority.

A fraction of a moment after Fox opened fire on the raccoon, Scarlet's grenade detonated. The explosion ripped through the concrete column, collapsing it and bringing down part of the ceiling onto the final guard. An alarm began to blare throughout the entire building, warning everyone inside that the structure's structural rigidity had been compromised. Scarlet had no time for it. While Fox sprinted through the cluttered center of the room, leaping over desks and tables and smashing through outdated computer equipment, Scarlet had her target in sight. The silver transport ship was only fifty feet away. Even with her ears still ringing from the gunshots and explosions that rocked the entire room, she heard the voice of Antoine Carache screaming, "It's no good! Get onboard! We've got to get out of here!"

The iguana and the coyote abandoned the cumbersome cart at the end of the transport ship's ramp and ran towards the ship's cargo bay with both arms and legs flailing wildly. Carache raced into his ship and reached out his hand to help the weapons dealer, who had slipped on the floor and fallen behind his counterpart. Before the weapons dealer could grip Carache's hand, Scarlet sprinted out from behind the column closest to the ship and opened fire on him. The laser burst caught him squarely in the head, killing him instantly. He fell onto his face and slid off the ramp as Carache maniacally pounded the controls to close the ramp while queuing up the ship's engines. The building's roof had been severely compromised already thanks to Scarlet's grenade; and the roof panels that were supposed to open for him refused to move, regardless of how many times Carache mashed his opener.

With only one option left, the iguana gunned the throttle and lifted the ship straight through the roof. In fury, Scarlet pulled her throwing knife off of her hip and hurled it towards the closing cargo bay. The blade bounced inside, but failed to harm its target in the least as the ship rose through the ceiling. Blocks of stone and mortar crashed down on the floor where the ship had once stood, converting half of the room into an open-air chamber. Scarlet screamed and leaped out of the way of the collapsing ceiling, avoiding a 70-pound block by mere inches before diving to the floor and rolling over in time to see Carache's ship disappearing into the night sky above the heavily-damaged building whose owner was now deceased.

A moment later, Fox sprinted through the rubble and knelt beside her. "Are you alright, Scarlet?"

"He got away," she snarled, shedding an angry tear. "That was my best chance at taking him down, and I _failed_!" She slammed her hand down on the ground and cursed a series of obscenities into the open air above her. "_Damn it!_"

"We'll get him, Scarlet," Fox reassured her. However, his words only seemed to infuriate the vixen further. It bothered her that he didn't take the mission as seriously as she did. But how could he, then? He knew nothing about Antoine Carache or Asgard Industries before he met her and couldn't be expected to approach the operation the same way that she did.

"You just don't get it, do you Fox?" she snapped, sitting up and baring her teeth at the compassionate vulpine who was attempting to console her. "That was it—we won't get a better chance than that. All that work—all that effort—for nothing!"

"I know, Scarlet," Fox growled in return. "I'm not an idiot. But I guarantee that we'll find a way to take him down, no matter how difficult it is."

Scarlet pushed herself off the ground and ran her fingers through her hair, which had become badly disheveled during her frantic attack on her target. Surprised at what Fox had said, she asked him, "You mean that you're going to stay with me and help me out, even if we have to leave this planet?"

"Only if you're going to follow through with the paycheck if we get him."

Scarlet gave Fox a sly smile and began climbing the pile of rubble that had once been the warehouse's ceiling. "I see how it is, Fox," she grinned, checking her steps and crawling on her hands and knees at times in an attempt to get a better grip on the mountain of debris. "I promise you that if we get him, you'll get your money. Good enough for you?"

"You've got yourself a deal," Fox replied.

Without warning, a blast from the entrance to the demolished room rocked the entire building, dislodging several more blocks from the ceiling. "They're through the doors!" Fox shouted, alerting Scarlet to the imminent threat. "Climb faster!"

Ignoring the cuts and scrapes from the myriad pieces of rubble, Fox and Scarlet clawed their way to the edge of the building's former roof. Twenty feet below were the building's air conditioning units and its propane tank, mounted on a small concrete slab. The lush jungle behind the warehouse hadn't been cut in what seemed like decades, causing it to encroach on the building itself. The largest of the tree limbs were less than five feet from where Fox and Scarlet were standing. Both foxes could hear the soldiers entering the room; and if they failed to take action, they would be shot and killed.

"Fox, we're going to have to jump for it," Scarlet murmured in a grave voice.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Fox uneasily replied. While Scarlet prepared to take the leap, he thought about all the possible scenarios that could result from a jump from the top of the building into the woods. He could fall unimpeded to the ground and shatter his leg, he could hit his head and die, or worse yet—he could fall onto a broken tree and be skewered like a shish-kabob. The possibility of the jump ending painlessly was virtually nil.

Scarlet gave him no room to resist what she knew was inevitable. "Jump, Fox!" she demanded, grabbing his hand and leaping off the roof into the woods below. Completely unprepared for Scarlet's impulsive action, Fox screamed as a tree limb struck him in the face, disorienting him and sending a searing pain into his muzzle. Before he had a chance to determine his course of action, he fell onto a heavy mahogany branch. His abdomen took the bulk of the impact and immediately caused him to feel nauseous. He fell uncontrollably to the forest floor, landing in a clump of ferns next to Scarlet, who awkwardly dropped from a similar branch and fell on her backside, letting out a sharp yelp in the process.

Fox groaned in pain and rolled over, vomiting up his dinner onto the mossy ground.

"Are you alright, Fox?" Scarlet asked him, standing up and brushing off her uniform. Except for the numerous scratches from the tree limbs and the soreness that was already present in her tailbone, she didn't feel any signs of a serious injury.

Fox mumbled incoherently and emptied his stomach on the ground. Feeling like his insides had been smashed with a sledgehammer, he rolled over onto his back and tried to sit up. Scarlet knelt down and took his hand, helping him to his feet and holding him up when he began to lose his balance. Deciding that he had the ability to stand on his own, Fox waved her off and leaned up against a nearby birch tree.

"We lost them, right?" he gasped, still tasting vomit in his mouth.

Scarlet nodded. "They won't look in here. The woods are too thick."

Uncertain about what he and Scarlet were to do next, he asked her, "Where do we go now? Your fighter is five miles away, back in that parking lot where I left it."

Scarlet sighed and looked around the wooded area for any signs of hostile activity before flexing her injured arm to make sure that it was still healthy. She found it to be very sore, but the earlier bleeding had stopped completely. "First things first—we have to get out of these woods without being spotted. It shouldn't be too hard. You have your knife, right?"

"Yeah, I've got it."

"Good. That should work to cut any vines that might get in our way. I say that once we move about 300 yards, we'll be in the clear. After that, I'm afraid that we'll have to walk."

"Great," Fox grumbled. "My stomach is killing me."

While Fox hacked away at a cluster of shrubs that blocked his and Scarlet's path, Scarlet suggested, "I think some wine might do you well. When we make it to a hotel, I'll see if I can get you a bottle."

Fox stopped and faced Scarlet. "Why are you acting so generous to me, anyway? I hardly even know you—heck, I've already screwed you over and almost got you killed. So, what gives?"

"Can I be honest with you, Fox?" she asked in a bashful voice that Fox wasn't familiar with. Her ears were lowered—not out of anger, but out of fear.

"Go ahead, Scarlet."

Uneasily, the vixen explained, "I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about you that makes me want to be around you."

Fox blushed and his eyes widened. "Really?"

"I feel ashamed for telling you, Fox; but yes," she replied. "I…"

"What is it, Scarlet?"

The vixen remained silent and gazed into his eyes. She glanced over his scratched face, his ruffled fur, and his poorly-fitting clothes. As awkward as he looked, Scarlet saw one of the most handsome vulpines she had ever met. As much as she wanted to remain self-reliant, she couldn't shake the feelings that welled up inside of her whenever she looked at him.

"Scarlet?" Fox repeated.

To Fox's shock, Scarlet threw her arms around his chest and put her lips against his. She kissed him with almost all of the strength left in her body, shattering the mental barriers that she had erected to prevent herself from succumbing to her own romantic passions. She expected Fox to pull away and reject her advances; but to her delight, he didn't. At first, he was stunned; but as the seconds ticked by, he gave into her and returned the favor. Scarlet didn't care that his breath tasted like vomit. She was in a state of euphoric bliss brought on by the knowledge that he was receptive to her affections for him. For almost a minute, the two vulpines held each other and shared the romantic embrace.

When Fox pulled away from Scarlet, he noticed a gleam in the vixen's eye that he hadn't seen yet. He was still shocked that she had been harboring feelings for him, but he was anything but disappointed. He licked his lips and tasted Scarlet's lipstick that had been deposited by her kiss. It was better than the taste that had been on his lips before—that was for sure. He himself felt drawn to Scarlet, but he hadn't said anything about it for fear of her scolding him and threatening not to pay him for his services.

The only things that bothered him were his feelings for the Cerinian back in his room at the Oasis. She needed him far more than Scarlet did. The girl looked up to him almost like a father; and if he were to announce his affections for Scarlet, there was a strong possibility that she would take it personally. He felt trapped in a way that he never had before. He couldn't remember a single time in the past when he had been attracted equally to two different women at one point in time. The reasons for his attraction to Krystal and Scarlet were vastly different. For Scarlet, it was because she stirred up the emotions that he hadn't felt for quite some time—the emotions that made him want to make love like there was no tomorrow.

For Krystal, it was because she was different from any other girl he had ever met. The blue vixen was every bit as beautiful as Scarlet, but for a different reason; although there was no denying that Fox was physically attracted to her as well. She was the only vixen that he genuinely loved talking with, which was something that Fox couldn't say about most women.

As a figure of speech, Krystal was a calm, placid waterfall; while Scarlet was a raging volcano. Both aspects appealed equally to Fox, and he found himself in a conundrum that he never imagined himself falling into.

With both Scarlet and Krystal on his mind, Fox pushed through the thick jungle with Scarlet close behind him. He said very little to the red vixen, even when the woods thinned out and merged back into the dingy urban district of Yaruit. Realizing that Fox needed space to think, Scarlet allowed him to walk ahead of her while he lead the way back to Scarlet's fighter. She understood how he felt, even though she knew that his thoughts were alternating back and forth between her and Krystal.

"_Soon enough, she'll be gone; and Fox will be all mine." _The thought brought a smile to her face as she fantasized about everything she would do with Fox when his mind was no longer conflicted.

After five miles of walking, Fox and Scarlet reached the location where the former of the two had parked the Artemis Interceptor. When both foxes were comfortably seated inside the fighter, Fox guided the craft in the direction of an urban hotel that Scarlet pointed out for him. With the Oasis out of the question for the night thanks to its policies on vehicle usage after 9:00 P.M., Fox and Scarlet were forced to content themselves to another temporary residence, at least for the night.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):  
_

_I do apologize for the rather lengthy wait for the latest chapter and for the lengthiness of the chapter itself. Hopefully it was worth it in the end.  
_

_Although it looks like Fox and Scarlet are starting to warm up to each other, don't worry - Krystal is **NOT** going to be discarded. Why would I do that to her anyway?_

**_Also:_**

_I'm opening a poll with a question that will determine one minor detail about the future of this story (It will not affect the plot at all. It's just something that I can't decide on myself). Visit my profile to vote. If you're a guest, leave your vote in your review and I'll count it as a 'registered' vote. You can make two selections.  
_

The question is:

Apart from blue, which color would look the best on Krystal?


	9. Chapter 9: Love and Murder

_READER WARNING:  
_

_I previously mentioned the possibility of this story's rating going up, but now the rating has officially been changed to 'M.' Perhaps some would say that it wasn't necessary, but I think it's the right thing to do. If this development bothers you, feel free to skip over the part between the first pair of break lines.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 9: Love and Murder**

"Artemis Mk. III, permission has been granted for you to land in the hangar bay. Please proceed to the nearest available space."

"Copy that," Fox replied, looking down at the opening roof of an air and spacecraft parking area. The hangar-of-sorts belonged to the Avalon Downtown Hotel, which Scarlet had directed Fox towards thanks to a suggestion in her road atlas. The vulpine pushed the flight stick downward, dropping altitude and bringing Scarlet's interceptor to the cold, gray floor of the parking deck. As with the Oasis's hangar, the space around them was filled with spacecrafts of various designs, purposes, and marques. The spot where Fox had landed was relatively close to the door leading to an enclosed bridge that in turn led into the Avalon itself. After opening the canopy and dropping to the ground, Fox took Scarlet's velvety paw and helped her down from the fighter's wing.

"Thanks, Fox. Hopefully you don't mind staying here tonight."

"It doesn't bother me," Fox replied, "Except that I'm worried about Krystal. I know you hate her, but what can I do? She needs help, and her dying friend's last wish was that I would take care of her."

Scarlet frowned and tightened her grip on his paw.

"Are you jealous of her, Scarlet?" the vulpine asked.

The red vixen let out a sharp growl and clenched her teeth. However, she quickly recanted and fixed her mouth back into its 'normal' position after seeing the uncomfortable look that her outburst brought to Fox's face. "Sorry about that," she mumbled with her ears lowered. "I can't help it. I hate Cerinians so much."

"Why, Scarlet? There's nothing about them that you should be worried about."

"That's what you think," Scarlet snapped, pointing her finger at his face. "I know what they're really like. They might seem innocent, but they're really backstabbing cowards who'll dig into your thoughts and then sell you out for them. I've known _several _Cerinians—High Order ones, too—that did that to me. They are _not_ to be trusted."

Trying to explain to her that the vixen who occupied his Oasis hotel room was innocent, Fox replied, "Krystal isn't like that. I'm sure you'd like her if you weren't so closed-minded."

"Closed-minded? Hah! Not a chance, Fox. I know better. I've learned all of this from years of being around them."

Fox sighed and muttered, "At least give Krystal a chance. I promise that she wouldn't do anything to you like these other Cerinians did. Come on—ever since you set eyes on her, you've wanted to kill her; I mean, not literally…but…"

Scarlet looked down at the ground and mumbled an incomprehensible stream of syllables. She realized how foolish she was for refusing to even give Fox's poor guest the light of day, especially considering what the young vixen had been through. However, Scarlet's hatred for the Cerinian people still continued to burn in her chest. Looking up at Fox, she sighed and said, "I guess I should apologize to that furball."

Fox sighed and shook his head while Scarlet began walking towards the parking deck's exit door, which led to the enclosed bridge connecting the parking area with the sumptuous hotel. Scarlet had determined that she would pay for one room (and one room only) at the upscale establishment. Fox was hesitant about sharing a room with the sultry vixen; but because the hotel's room prices were almost as exorbitant as those at the Oasis, he had little choice but to go along with her.

While Fox looked out through the glass plating that blocked the passageway from the elements, Scarlet glanced at him and smiled. "_I knew he would be useful for something,_" she thought, "_I would have never been able to get into that base without his help._ _That body of his, too… he's so bashful, but I bet he's ripped. I love how he acts so shy when I toy with him. I can't blame him—Felix was the same way at first. He'll grow into it eventually. I'll just have to give him some more time; that's all."_

Fox returned his glanced to the hallway above the city. Noticing that Scarlet was looking at him, he blushed and flicked his tail, bringing a smile to the vixen's face. "_I love that fox. I guess I can't blame him for wanting to help the Cerinian_. _He's a good guy, after all."_

After walking through the enclosed bridge to the Avalon hotel, Fox and Scarlet entered the building and found themselves on the 15th floor. The lobby was more than a hundred feet below them. Feeling worn out and sore after their adventure in the weapons dealer's storehouse, the vixen led Fox to a nearby elevator and pressed the down arrow. The elevator arrived quickly, and the two vulpines stepped into it. The front of the enclosure was made of clear, curved glass, allowing both of them to view the extravagant lobby area below.

"Did you really have to do this, Scarlet?" Fox asked, "I mean, you didn't have to pick such an expensive place to stay the night. A generic chain hotel would have been fine by me."

Scarlet winked at Fox and replied, "I can afford it. Think of it as my way of saying 'thank you' for helping me out in the base. You really impressed me back there, Foxie. You're no slouch." She paused, "I was getting worried that you were just another pushover who was just along for the ride."

"Sorry if I seemed that way," Fox apologized, opening his hands. "I didn't know what to do when the police were on your tail. I could have shot at them, but it would have brought too much attention to me. The authorities would have identified the fighter as yours, and then they would have stormed the Oasis while looking for you."

"I guess I didn't think about that," Scarlet murmured. "That wouldn't have ended well."

The elevator came to a stop and made a soft bell sound before the doors opened. Fox and Scarlet wearily trudged to the front desk, where a leopardess dressed in a business suit stood behind a computer screen. "Good evening. How can I help you?" she asked with a trained smile that exuded an air of professionalism and hospitality.

Resting her arms on the counter in front of the receptionist, Scarlet said, "We need a room for the night? Do you have anything available?"

The leopardess behind the counter curled the corner of her mouth and muttered, "I don't know. This is peak tourist season. Most of the time, our patrons book their rooms more than a week in advance; but I'll see what I can do." While Fox and Scarlet held their collective breath, the feline pounded away at her computer's keyboard, her claws creating an obnoxious clicking sound on the plastic keys. After nearly a minute, the receptionist looked up from the computer screen and said, "You really lucked out, you two. We had a couple cancel their reservation an hour ago. Their room is available It's on the 20th floor. The number is 2010."

"How many beds does it have?" Fox worriedly asked.

"The room has one queen bed," the leopardess replied.

Fox swallowed hard and looked over at Scarlet as a devious smile crept across her lips. There was no way out of this, and he knew it. The feeling in his chest wasn't so much a feeling of fear, but a sensation of uncertainty mixed with a form of euphoria. The last time he had shared a bed with a woman was when he had been dating Fara Phoenix—and that had been nine years ago.

While Fox remained speechless, Scarlet spoke up. "That'll be fine, ma'am."

"Excellent," said the receptionist. "What name should I book your room under?"

Normally, Scarlet would have been quick with a fabricated alias or an assumed identity. She also could have used Fox's name or his false title of James Fox. However, she decided against using any of them. With an expression of uncertainty, she leaned closer to the receptionist and whispered, "Shaiyau Altruis."

Despite her best efforts, Fox overheard her and raised his eyebrows at the unique title, which he assumed to be her actual name. As if she knew what Fox was thinking, the vixen looked over her shoulder with a concerned look on her face that seemed to tell him, "Don't tell anyone about this."

After entering the name into the hotel's computer, the receptionist smiled and handed Scarlet the card to their room for the night. "Thank you, and have a good night. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to call about it. Our staff will be happy to help you."

"Thank you," Scarlet replied, glancing at Fox and then walking back to the elevator, which had not been used since their arrival. Stepping into the glass-fronted enclosure, she pressed the button marked '20', causing the elevator to ascend. While Scarlet gazed out the front of the small chamber, Fox asked her, "Why did you use your real name?"

The vixen exhaled and ran her fingers through her hair. "I didn't want to use a name associated with the Oasis in case someone is tracking us. Hey—you never know. I'm a wanted criminal on some planets. People have tried to kill me before."

"But you could have just used my name."

"I didn't want to do that. If I booked the room under 'Fox McCloud', it would raise a few eyebrows. Believe it or not, people know your name around here; and they'll suspect that you're up to something."

"I see," said Fox. "That's a nice name, by the way. I don't think I've ever heard it before. Where did it come from?"

"Actually, my name is Cynthia," the vixen corrected, "But I went by the name Shaiyau before I adopted my alias. My mother liked the way it sounded. I hate to admit it, but it's actually a Cerinian name that means 'exotic flower.'"

"It fits you nicely," Fox commented.

"Thanks, Fox," she replied, turning her head to look at the readout near the elevator door just in time to see the number 19 change to 20. Seconds later, the doors slid open, allowing Fox and Scarlet to leave the elevator and to seek out their room. Room 2010 was on the right side of the white-painted hall not too far from the elevator area. As they approached the door, Fox yawned while Scarlet produced her key card and slid it into the door's card reader. The door emitted a 'click' and unlocked itself.

"You first," said Scarlet, motioning for Fox to step into the sumptuously appointed room, where he pulled off his boots and examined the place where he and Scarlet would be spending the night. The large bed on the right side of the room was covered by a black bedspread with white pillows that added contrast to the setup. The white walls were painted with a form of plaster, giving it the feeling of a rustic dwelling. The lighting in the room was warm and inviting, and the overall feel of the room was welcoming and hospitable.

While Fox looked around the room and admired its luxurious trappings, Scarlet unzipped her Asgard Industries jacket and pushed her trousers down until they were nothing more than a ball of fabric at her feet. She had left her bodysuit on underneath the bulky set of clothes, but she had no intention of sleeping in the taut-fitting garment that appealed to Fox's masculine senses in a way that no other form of clothing could—unless no clothing at all qualified as a form of clothing.

Fox's wandering eyes widened as Scarlet began to unzip her bodysuit in front of him. Once again, he felt his mouth becoming dry. He froze in place while the vixen freed herself from the garment before she dropped it on the floor and walked up to him, wearing a set of lacy undergarments that were temptingly translucent in certain areas.

"_Oh man… she's gorgeous. I've got to be careful here_," he thought to himself, all the while admiring Scarlet's figure.

Giggling, the vixen brought her paw up to Fox's lips and wiped away a strand of saliva that had leaked out of his mouth without his knowledge. "Classy, Fox," she sarcastically remarked, although she made it clear that she was joking with him.

"Um… sorry about that," Fox mumbled, wiping his lips with the back of his paw while Scarlet sauntered into the nearby bathroom and brushed her teeth. While in the bathroom, she made a point to check the variety of soap which the hotel used. To her delight, one of the small bottles on the rim of the spa-equipped bathtub contained a fur-softening mix designed specifically for most forms of the group '_canidae_.' Happy with the knowledge that her early-morning bath would be as satisfying as always, Scarlet left the bathroom and walked over to the bed, where Fox was seated.

Dropping onto the edge of the mattress next to him, she playfully scratched his muzzle and tugged at his coat collar. "You're not going to sleep in _that_, are you?"

"Um, no," Fox replied, nervous about the prospect of undressing in front of Scarlet, even though she had previously bared everything in front of him without even flinching. "It's been a while since this kind of thing has happened."

"I understand," said Scarlet, sympathizing with him. "I've been sleeping alone for more than a year now. Felix and I don't feel the same way towards each other anymore."

"Felix?"

"Oh—Felix is my boss," Scarlet explained. "We're still friends, but the romantic part of our relationship is gone. I can't really explain it…it just went cold. That's about all there is to it." Changing the subject, Scarlet asked Fox, "Is your stomach feeling any better?"

"Not really. It still feels like someone hit me in the gut with a baseball bat."

"Sorry about that, Fox. I know the jump from the warehouse was painful, but there wasn't another option. I'll make it up to you, though—I'll have room service bring us a bottle of wine, just like I suggested."

Instead of being thankful for Scarlet's kind gesture, Fox assumed an attitude of disapproval. "Scarlet, be honest with me—are you trying to get me drunk so I'll have sex with you?"

Fox's question caused the vixen to laugh hysterically. Slapping the bed with her paw, she replied, "Fox! Did you really think I would do that to you?"

Fox nodded.

"I guess you know me too well, then," the vixen grinned. "But really, I think a bit of red wine will help you out. Trust me on this one."

"If you say so, Scarlet."

The vixen reached over to the nearby communications unit that sat on the wooden nightstand to the left of the bed and dialed up the extension for the hotel's room service.

"Avalon Hotel Patron Service—how may I be of assistance?"

"Hi, good evening," replied Scarlet. "I'd like to order a bottle of red wine for me and my friend in room 2010. What would you recommend?"

"Hmm… right now, one of the most popular red wines is the 'Le Château Noir.' It's a merlot known for its robust, unique flavor. At the moment, we have three bottles in stock. Would you like one?"

"Yes please," replied Scarlet.

"We appreciate your patronage. The total for your order will be 40 credits even."

"_My word, that's expensive. __Hopefully it'll be worth it. Still, Fox has earned it, after all."_ Speaking into the phone, Scarlet confirmed her order and said, "Thank you very much."

"You're very welcome, ma'am. Your drink will be up to you in five to ten minutes."

"Thanks," Scarlet replied, placing the phone back in its receiver and turning to Fox with a grin on her lips. "All right, Fox—I ordered it."

Indifferently, Fox mumbled, "Great," while removing his Asgard jacket and hanging it on a nearby coat hook. Even after several minutes, his heart was still beating more rapidly than normal. Every time he glanced at Scarlet, a mild shock overtook him. To say that the vixen was attractive to him was an understatement. The instant that she removed her bodysuit, he knew that he was in trouble. Looking at his comrade, he could tell that she had put a good amount of effort into her physique. Her abdominals were trim and defined, but not unnatural for her sex. The same was true about her finely-toned arms and legs.

Even though her thick, lush fur, the clear-cut lines created by her well-trained muscles were easily noticeable. Excess fat was nonexistent on her body, although Fox wasn't surprised by this. Having casually observed Scarlet's choice of diet, he noticed that she spurned excessive sugars and tended towards small to moderate portions of protein-rich red meat. He was no amateur when it came to fitness, and he knew the same could be said about his vixenly friend. However, the one aspect of her physique that amazed him was that in spite of her slim build, she still had it 'where it counted,' so to speak.

Taking a deep, uncertain breath, Fox unbuckled his pants and removed them. However, unlike Scarlet, who had casually discarded her clothing on the floor, Fox folded the black khakis and placed them on top of the room's large dresser. He lowered his head, sniffed the white T-shirt that covered his upper body, and scowled in disapproval at the foul scent that pervaded it. "_That stupid guard must've never heard of deodorant,_" he griped. Unable to stomach the repulsive scent, he pulled the shirt over his head and flung it towards the balcony exit, making sure that he put as much distance between himself and it as possible.

He looked over at Scarlet to see her smiling at him with a look of longing in her deep blue eyes. Giving the vixen a tense grin in return, Fox walked over to her and sat down on the bed beside her. He blushed when Scarlet reached out her paw and stroked his leg. The softness of her fur was heavenly, even angelic in a sense. The vixen's touch caused him to let out a deep breath and to close his eyes. When he had first set foot into the hotel room, he had been apprehensive about rooming with Scarlet; but now, he wanted nothing more than to spend the night pressed against her body, feeling the softness of her fur and the warmth that came from it. As if it knew what he was thinking, the room's air conditioner kicked into action and lowered the temperature to a point that was too cold for his liking, especially since he and Scarlet had just been outside in 50 degree weather.

Seconds later, a knock came at the door, followed by a loud announcement. "Room service!"

"Stay right there, Fox," said Scarlet, standing up and covering herself with a bath robe from the bathroom before opening the door. A well-dressed great dane stood outside, clutching the bottle of wine that Scarlet had ordered.

"Here's the wine you requested," he said, holding it out for her to take.

Relieving him of the bottle, Scarlet replied, "Thank you, sir" and closed the door before disappearing inside. Normally, she avoided using formal titles such as 'sir' or 'ma'am,' but she deemed the situation as being appropriate for the use of such words. Holding the wine bottle in her right paw, Scarlet walked over to a nearby desk, where several inverted wine glasses were kept. The wrapping around the bottle cap was quickly dealt with thanks to her keen claws; and in seconds, she had removed the cap itself. She poured a moderate amount of the expensive liquid into two of the glasses and then walked over to the bedside where Fox was seated. "Here you go, Fox. You've earned it," she said with a smile, clinking her glass against his and then taking a sip. It would have been a stretch to call Scarlet a 'lady' in the traditional sense, but she knew better than to guzzle her wine.

Wine was not something Fox was particularly fond of, not because he was opposed to alcohol, but because the drink's flavor had never appealed to him. However, the drink Scarlet had ordered was different from the bargain wines that he was familiar with. The flavorful liquid tasted sweeter than what he would have expected, and before long, he had drained his glass.

"You like it?" Scarlet asked him, shaking her glass and causing the small amount of wine at the bottom to swirl around.

Fox stood up and placed his empty glass on the nightstand next to the bed while Scarlet finished hers off. "I love it. Thanks for ordering it."

Scarlet gave Fox an appreciative smile and placed her wine glass beside Fox's before turning off the small lamp on the nightstand. Without it, the room became completely dark except for the pale moonlight that flooded into the room through the window. With Scarlet in place on the left side of the bed, Fox walked around the edge of the mattress and slid under the sheets to the vixen's right. Seconds later, Scarlet did the same. The air conditioning unit continued to pipe cold air into the room, making the warm sanctuary of the soft bedsheets seem even more heavenly to the tired vulpines whose bodies were relaxed by the wine they had imbibed.

* * *

For even more warmth, Scarlet rolled onto her side and put her arms around Fox's torso, pulling him against her chest. The vulpine exhumed a quick, surprised breath in response to the movement and momentarily tensed up his muscles. For just one moment, Scarlet wished that she had been a Cerinian, because she would have liked nothing more than to read into his thoughts and see what he was thinking about. She felt his quickly-increasing heartbeat against her chest and smiled. "There's no need to be nervous, Fox," she whispered, reassuring him with a pat on the back.

Listening to her words and breathing deeply, Fox began to caress the red vixen's back, exploring its contours and ridges with his paw. With every stroke, he felt a passionate sensation growing within him. It had been nearly a decade since the last time he felt it—so long, in fact, that he had almost forgotten about it. Unbeknownst to him, Scarlet felt the same way. While he stroked her back, she brought her muzzle up to his and gave him an affectionate lick that sparked a chain reaction.

In a matter of seconds, what had been a gentle exchange of pats and rubs became a series of zealous, aggressive kisses. Both vulpines yelped and grabbed for each other, abandoning all forms of restraint and rolling around beneath the covers with an intensity that was almost feral. In the process, what was left of their clothing was forcefully removed. Scarlet was shocked by Fox's impulsiveness, but the last thing she was going to do was to tell him to stop. She hadn't imagined that he could act this way at all. To her, he had always come across as being the demure one, while she was the loose cannon.

Fox came to rest on top of Scarlet's chest, panting from exertion. When the vixen looked into his green eyes, she saw an ardent spark of life in them that spoke volumes about Fox's intentions. She didn't know if he was in full control of his instincts, but what she did know was that she was more than willing to follow through with whatever he wanted to do with her. For the moment, the red vulpine rested on top of her bare torso, catching his breath and gazing into Scarlet's deep blue eyes. If either of them went any farther, there would be no turning back until both of them were satisfied.

Fox was well aware of this. While he regained his breath, he considered the possible repercussions of his actions. He thought about Krystal—poor girl—alone in his room back at the Oasis without anyone to care for her. He knew nothing about the danger she was in, only that she was longing for him to come back to her. Conversely, he looked down at Scarlet and felt his sensual desires beginning to overpower his will to resist. There was no way that he could pass this up. The most attractive vixen he had ever laid eyes on was in a bed with him and was ready to receive his love if he chose to give it to her. The decision was his to make.

Taking a deep breath of the air that smelled strongly of Scarlet's aromatic perfume, Fox tentatively squeezed her breast and planted a tender kiss on her lips. The vixen laughed in response and clutched him even more tightly than she had before. Breathing heavily, she issued a warning to Fox before she rolled onto her stomach and brushed his muzzle with her fluffy tail. "This could get rough, Fox—just saying. I don't play nice."

"I wouldn't have expected you to," Fox replied with a raspy voice that sent chills up Scarlet's spine. Shoving all of his inhibiting thoughts into the darkest corner of his mind, he scratched the base of her tail, pulled himself onto her back and plunged into her. Fox had expected Scarlet to be more than he could handle, especially for someone as out of practice as he was. However, in spite of the warning she had given him, she remained surprisingly placid, drinking in Fox's love and letting out a quiet moan every time he gave her a particularly powerful thrust. Likely, she was too weak to put up much of a fight after all that she had been through in the previous hours; but regardless of how tired she felt, she genuinely enjoyed the feeling of Fox inside her body.

Relishing the moment, Scarlet moaned, "You're wonderful, Fox. I just wanted you to know that."

"The same goes for you, Scarlet," he replied with the same voice that had put all of her senses on edge.

Both Fox and Scarlet shared the next several minutes in blissful intimacy until they had each drunken their fill of each other's love for the night. Feeling satiated, Fox pushed the bedsheets off of his body and sat up. The full moon outside the window cast its light into the room, illuminating the bed and making Scarlet's figure fully visible to him. Even after the most invigorating activity that he had partaken of in years, he still couldn't believe that she had been willing to mate with him. The vixen looked at him and breathed the words "thank you" to him. A faint glow seemed to radiate from her face, and she looked truly at peace for the first time since Fox met her.

"Goodnight, Fox," she whispered, sinking beneath the covers and turning to look at him before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Fox leaned over and placed a kiss on Scarlet's forehead, bringing a smile to her face as she disappeared into the realm of unconsciousness. After looking out at the moon and the city around the hotel, Fox followed Scarlet's lead and went to sleep as well.

* * *

The ringing sound of her wrist communicator awakened Scarlet in the dead of the night. With a dissatisfied groan, she leaned over the side of the bed, picked the gauntlet off the floor, and read the number that appeared on the screen.

"_It has a Skallis origin code,_ _but I don't recognize the number."_

Climbing out of bed, Scarlet clipped her communicator onto her wrist and opened the sliding door to the balcony. "Hello? Who is this?" she asked, closing the door behind her and looking out over the balcony at the city below. The cold wind whistled through her fur, which—thankfully—had dried out after her sweat-inducing interaction with Fox.

"Scarlet? Do I have the right extension?" The voice that came through the device's small speakers had a mild accent reminiscent of a romance language.

"Yes. Now, who are you, and why on Skallis are you calling me at three in the morning?"

The man on the other end of the line laughed and replied, "Sorry about that, Scarlet. This is Leonardo Pietro. We've met before—I'm sure. I didn't want to bother you, but I was wondering if you could help me with something. I want to make sure I use up all the options I have available, you know."

Scarlet rolled her eyes and scowled. "What is it, Leo?"

"We're looking for a Cerinian named Krystal. My brothers and I were assigned to scour the Tehraian Greater Desert for the wreckage of her transport ship. It should have been destroyed already, but our demo-man went for a 'precision blast' that failed miserably. The only thing I found at the crash site is the corpse of another Cerinian. It's definitely not the one we're looking for."

Scarlet cut in, "So, you think I know where she is, huh?"

"Not really, but I thought it would be worth a shot."

A sly smile crept across Scarlet's lips, but along with it came a dark feeling of uncertainty. This was her chance to eliminate that furball for good; and better yet, Fox would be none with wiser. Unless she decided to tell him, he would never find out that she had been responsible for Krystal's death. At the same time, she felt guilty for wanting to end her life. "_Fox is right,"_ she mused, "_As much as I hate her, she hasn't done anything to hurt me. I really shouldn't do this, but…_"

"Do you know anything about her, Scarlet?" Leo asked.

"Okay, Leo—here's the deal," she whispered, looking back into the bedroom to make sure Fox wasn't looking at her. The vulpine was still fast asleep, wrapped up in the sheets next to where Scarlet had been sleeping. "I know where she is, and I'll tell you everything under one condition."

"Name your terms."

"I don't want anyone to know that it was me who gave you the tip. After this conversation is over, clear your call history."

"It's a deal," Leonardo replied. "Where's the Cerinian?"

"The Oasis Resort, room 2830. She's alone for the night, too."

"Perfect. You're amazing as always, Scarlet. Have a good night."

"You too, Leo."

Scarlet ended the call and promptly set to work clearing her recent call history to make sure that Fox would never find out about her conversation with Leonardo. With the call data gone forever, Scarlet opened the door to the hotel room and slipped back into bed with Fox. He sighed when she touched him, but he remained asleep. "_I'm sorry, Fox; but it had to be done_," she whispered, stroking his back softly enough as not to wake him from his slumber. "_You'll get over her eventually—I promise._"

* * *

_Two hours earlier…_

Miles outside the city in Fox's suite, Krystal curled up under the blankets of Fox's bed. Sleep refused to come to her, no matter how many times she closed her eyes. Her friend and protector was gone for the night; and for the first time in many moons, she was well and truly alone. She sniffed the silk sheets, hoping to catch at least a trace of Fox's masculine scent. The smell was still present, but instead of providing the forlorn vixen with a feeling of comfort and security, it reminded her that she had no one to watch out for her.

"Please Fox, come back," she whimpered, shedding a tear and letting it run down her face. "I need you."

If she had known what Fox and Scarlet were doing at that moment, her heart would have been broken. Mercifully, she was ignorant of the two red vulpines' act of lustful passion. With tears in her eyes, she hid under the covers and closed her eyes, wishing that Fox would return and comfort her like he had before. She held her eyelids shut for more than thirty minutes, keeping the mental picture of Fox in her mind so she would feel secure. After a torturously long period of time, the young Cerinian finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"_Krystal! Hold them off! Here! Take my staff!"_

The world materialized around the vixen, starting with a blank sheet of white and slowly fading in and out of focus as the reds, greens, and blues of her eyesight came into focus. "_W…what's going on?" _ she asked, looking around and recognizing the crimson-painted walls of the main temple belonging of the Cerinian High Order. Numerous torches blazed on the walls, casting their light onto the floor while the bright Cerinian moonlight flashed through the glass panels on the roof.

Turning around, she found herself face to face with a man who felt strangely familiar to her. His entire form was covered by a black robe—even his tail, if he had one. He held out a large, intricately-designed staff that reminded her of her own; albeit with an assortment of mechanical devices that augmented the already-powerful weapon's destructive abilities. "_Take it!" _the stranger ordered. To his left and right were numerous Cerinians that looked different from the normal specimens of the species '_vulpes Cerinus'. _All of them were clad in suits of black combat armor with white globe emblems printed on their chest plates. Some were armed with enhanced combat staffs, while others carried plasma-based assault rifles.

In seconds, a large detachment of gun-toting soldiers rounded the corner ahead of Krystal.

"_Take them down! For justice and equality!" _the black-cloaked leader roared, turning on his heels and sprinting around the corner behind the Cerinian entourage.

Krystal felt the tremendous power of the combat staff as her fingers squeezed the trigger on the blue-tinted metal shaft. Concussive blasts reminiscent of dark blue fire shot out of the tip, slamming into one of the soldiers and detonating with a powerful blast. She couldn't bear to look at the scene in front of her as the remaining offworld soldiers were massacred in a similar fashion. The only evidence that they had ever existed was the sheer amount of blood that coated the red and white carpeting and the similarly-painted walls.

While Krystal shuddered in horror of what she had just witnessed, the tall, white-furred Cerinian vixen standing next to her looked her in the eyes and said, _"We must protect the Demiurge at all costs. Those mercenary dogs are overrunning the defenses. There are too many of them—we'll need to fall back to the High Council chamber—now."_

"Yes, General," Krystal replied, forcing the words to her cold and clammy lips.

The white-furred vixen led Krystal and the fifteen other Cerinian troops around the nearest corner that opened up into a large library. Books were strewn all over the floor, along with the dead bodies of Cerinians and offworld troops alike. The once-elegant chamber had been defiled and desecrated by the violence that Krystal never would have imagined being possible in such a peaceful place.

"Contact!" the leader yelled.

The long library chamber was arranged with two floors and had been designed with four entry points; and it was from both the left and the right that a flood of foreign troops came pouring in. The attack had clearly been premeditated, because more than fifty soldiers arrived simultaneously with guns blazing. The mercenary unit unleashed a firestorm of laser blasts upon the Cerinian detachment that refused to back down. Combat staffs and plasma rifles roared into action, lighting up the library with their noise. Troops from both parties fell to enemy fire, but Krystal spread her legs in a combat stance and held her ground with savage determination.

Then, she heard a voice that brought her world to a standstill. "_Scarlet! Now!_"

Krystal had no time to process the turn of events. For a split second, she saw Fox's face in the crowd of enemy soldiers. She froze in a cold sweat and instinctively looked upwards in time to see ten more troops leaping from the balcony above them. The vixen screamed and dropped her staff, but before she could run, she was floored by one of the soldiers. She landed with her back to the ground, looking up into the eyes of Scarlet the bounty huntress. Something was wrong, though—the left side of her face was horribly disfigured, and her left eye had been replaced with a mechanical unit that shone with a soulless blue light that terrified Krystal more than anything she had experienced before. The red vixen put her hand around Krystal's neck and gave it a firm squeeze. To her horror, she felt a grip of sharpened steel instead of fur. Struggling in Scarlet's tight grasp, Krystal managed to partially free herself; but when she looked down at Scarlet's hand, she went numb. The bounty huntress's hand no longer bore fur. Instead, it gleamed in the light of the room and reflected it off its cold, metallic surface.

The last thing that Krystal saw was the image of the red vixen with her teeth bared and her ears pinned against her scalp. _"What have you done, Krystal?! __He's going to destroy the entire planet!"_

* * *

Gasping for air, Krystal awoke in Fox's suite at the Oasis, surrounded by pillows and bedsheets. She was dressed in the same blue nightgown that she had worn to bed, and her ears were once again greeted with the calming noise of the water flowing from the nearby spa tub into the main part of the pool. Shivering after the nightmare that she had experienced, the vixen climbed out of bed, slipped out of her nightgown, and stepped into the spa. The warm water had a soothing effect on her frayed nerves, but only time could erase the fear she felt after the harrowing dream that was much too real for her liking.

She relaxed in the warm pool for several more minutes before a malicious set of thought patterns entered her mind. Someone was outside the door, and his intentions were anything but pure. Ignoring the water dripping off of her fur, Krystal climbed out of the spa and pulled on her nightgown. A sharp impact resounded through the hollow room as a heavy boot struck the steel entry door. Her adrenaline began flowing as she knelt beside her suitcase and dug through its contents until her hand came in contact with the cold metal surface of her staff.

The vixen closed her eyes, uttered a short, silent prayer, and extended her staff as the door flew open.

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):  
_

_And... cliffhanger.  
_

_Anyhow, the poll about Krystal's fur color is still open on my profile page. If you haven't voted yet, **get over there and do**** it!** Sorry - only the six options on the poll will be considered for the final tally._

_I was able to crank out this chapter a lot more quickly than unusual, so don't necessarily expect the next chapter to come out that fast (although it could, I suppose). I've been in a better frame of mind for writing recently._


	10. Chapter 10: The Morning After

**Chapter 10: The Morning After**

Krystal clutched her Cerinian staff as if it was her lifeline. She held it with both paws, ready to attack the man who had forced his way into her room. The intruder marched through the door; and upon seeing Krystal, he reached for his silenced handgun and brandished it.

The vixen's eyes widened as he pulled the trigger. Following her Cerinian combat trainer's instructions, she pressed the butt of her staff into the ground and activated the weapon's shield function. The yellow laser fire glanced off the blue energy field and dissipated against the wall to her left. Her reflexes had saved her, but she knew that she couldn't keep the shield up for much longer. It took large quantities of willpower and energy to maintain the defensive force field, and she was nowhere near as strong as the elder who had explained the technique to her.

Her assailant paced back and forth on the tile floor in front of her, pointing his pistol at her and waiting for the shield to drop. Behind the blue force field, all sounds were muffled in the same way that noise is distorted underwater. Krystal glanced up at her attacker with fear in her eyes and noticed that he was a silver fox of medium height. He was dressed in a blue dress shirt and black pants—a sophisticated outfit that belied his cruel intents.

Krystal felt her strength giving out as her shield flickered. The gray vulpine readied himself for the shot, knowing that in seconds, his prey would be exposed.

"_Fox! Where are you?"_ Krystal cried, desperately hoping that her rescuer was somewhere nearby.

The shield flickered again. A feeling of lightheadedness began to overtake the vixen. She dropped to her knees in agony, tears forming in her eyes as the thought of death entered her mind. She could already feel it taking hold of her as her strength dissipated. In her despair, she screamed inside the shield, sending out a telepathic distress call to anyone who could hear her. The shield collapsed, leaving her open to the enemy. She snapped open her eyes and saw the gray fox clutching his head in pain.

Krystal's weakened mind reeled as she rose to her feet and leapt into a combat stance. Her opponent pointed his gun at her and pulled the trigger, but the shot missed its mark and struck the wall behind her, leaving a black mark upon it. He attempted to fire again, but he stumbled and yelled when an aftershock of pain sliced through his mind.

Krystal had no time to waste. With her enemy disoriented, she gripped the end of her staff and swung it at the gray fox with all the strength she could muster. The tip of the staff crashed into his skull with a sickening crunch that was followed by a bloodcurdling scream and a torrent of blood. He fell to the ground and collapsed, whimpering in pain as his life ebbed away.

Even though he had tried to murder her, Krystal still felt empathy for her attacker. Dropping to her knees, she looked into his brown eyes and asked him, "Why did you try to kill me?"

The vulpine gasped for breath as his vision became blurry due to the fatal amount of blood that he had already lost. "F…Father's orders…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Krystal implored him, clutching his shoulders and shaking him in a vain attempt to keep him alive.

The gray fox made no reply. In a matter of seconds, he closed his eyes for the last time. He passed away on the black tile floor, lying prone in a pool of his own blood. Moments later, the reality of what Krystal had done set in, causing a chill to race down her spine. Gasping in shock, she looked at her attacker's dead body and sobbed. She collapsed on the floor and shed a flood of tears before looking over at her staff. The weapon's tip was covered in the blood of her attacker, and its mere appearance sickened her. Cerinian traditions taught her to respect life more highly than most did, but she also had a soft, caring heart that caused her to feel deep sympathy for anything with a heartbeat.

As the seconds became minutes, the loneliness of her situation returned. Even more than before, she wanted to feel Fox's presence. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him, even though such an act was vehemently prohibited by the elders of her Cerinian order. Standing up and hanging her head in desperation, she looked towards the door, where she saw a white plastic bag next to Fox's spare shoes. Curious as to what it contained, she walked over to it and dug through its contents. She noticed the box of cologne that Fox had purchased, but her eyes jumped to the other item in the bag—_the_ _book_. "_Huh? What's this?"_ she wondered, wiping the tears from her eyes and removing the book from the bag.

The vixen glanced at the cover of the blue volume and cried tears of joy when she realized what it was. "_He loves me," _she thought, feeling a smile crossing her lips, "_He bought this book because he wants to know how to care for me and make me feel welcome."_ Overcome with happiness, Krystal thumbed through the pages, nodding in approval of the general accuracy of its contents. No two Cerinians were alike; but for the most part, the blue book did a reasonable job of explaining the intricacies of Cerinian culture and romance, even though it was impossible for it to be one hundred percent correct.

She felt butterflies fill her stomach when she turned to the chapter that detailed several ways that a man could satisfy a Cerinian female during a mating session. For the most part, she felt strange because she had never been with a man before. She read through the entire chapter, devouring the information like a newfound treasure that she had unearthed. Her mother had explained the most basic aspects of mating to her; but now that she was aware of the more 'intimate' elements of the activity, she couldn't wait to find a man to share her life and body with. She thought about Fox and how much she loved to simply be around him. Would he be interested in something more? With that question burning inside her mind, she determined that she would have to find out sooner or later.

Even though her adrenaline had slowed down, she knew that sleep would be impossible. Remembering the courtyard where she and Fox had spent part of their afternoon, she decided that some time alone in the cool outdoor area would help to calm her tense nerves. After pulling several clothing items out of her suitcase, Krystal changed into a fluffy, fur-lined black jacket, a pair of snug-fitting dark red pants, and a set of black boots that she was particularly fond of. Trying to avoid staring at the dead vulpine by the spa tub, she stepped towards the door. As she reached out her hand to open it, she heard a harsh voice on the other side shouting, "Open up! This is the police!"

* * *

The next morning, Fox awoke to the sensation of Scarlet's body pressed against his own. She was still asleep, but she had every right to be after all that she had been through the previous day. Their passionate romance in the early hours of the morning only served to make her more tired. Fox nuzzled her and kissed her nose, but she remained asleep. "_Man, she's really out of it,_" Fox thought, taking the liberty of tracing the outline of her muzzle with his hand.

Strangely, the vixen's face reflected an aura of disappointment and regret rather than ecstasy and joy. It didn't make sense at all—Fox hadn't seen her express such excitement as she did when they had finished their love making the previous night. For her to be unhappy was strange to him. Turning his attention away from the sleeping vixen, he glanced at the digital alarm clock next to the bed and noticed that it was 8:45 in the morning. "_Crap! I have to make sure Krystal's okay!_" he yelled internally. Rolling out of bed and struggling to stand up as the blood rushed to his head, he briefly scanned the hotel room and realized that he was naked. The feeling was strange to him, considering that he always slept in a tank top and boxer shorts. Last night had been different, though. His underwear was still somewhere under the sheets; and seeing as he didn't want to wake the slumbering vixen, he decided to wait until she regained consciousness to find his boxers. He walked over to the dresser, where he had placed his wrist communicator. A flashing red light on the corner of the screen indicated that he had missed several transmissions.

Frustrated, he powered on the unit and scowled when he saw that he had missed four attempted calls from Peppy. Wondering what his mentor and fellow crew member was so concerned about, he contacted him while strapping the device to his wrist. The unit made a series of beeps and electronic whirs until Peppy's worried voice came through the wrist interface's speakers. "Fox! Are you okay?"

"Calm down, Peppy," he whispered, trying to avoid waking Scarlet. "What's the matter? Sorry I missed your calls, by the way."

"Fox, where in tarnations are you? Someone broke into your room last night! It's all over the local news!" Peppy shook his fist, emphasizing the importance of what he had to say.

"What?! You can't be serious!" Fox shouted, causing Scarlet to mumble in her sleep and then open her eyes to the sight of the completely undressed vulpine yelling into his wrist unit. She managed to stifle a laugh as she gazed at his trim, highly-trained form.

Peppy continued, "Slippy's been watching the news feeds from the city, and we've been really concerned about you. All that matters is that you're okay, though. You _are _okay, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Peppy. I'm a bit tired, but that's not important."

"Glad to hear it, Fox. By the way, are you anywhere near a TV or a tablet?"

"There's one right in front of me."

"Turn it on and watch the news headlines."

Following Peppy's instructions, Fox snatched the remote off the dresser and powered on the large flatscreen TV. By default, the programming had been set to channel 2—the main news source in Yaruit. In large capital letters at the bottom of the screen was a line that read, "MURDER ATTEMPTED IN OASIS RESORT. ONE CASUALTY."

"No!" Fox yelled, clutching his head.

The reporter for news channel 2 stood in front of the entrance to the room where the disturbance had been caused. Fox quickly recognized it as his own hotel room and began to panic. Keeping his eyes fixed on the screen, he listened to the gray feline reporter as he elaborated on the evidence that the Yaruitian police department had unearthed after Krystal's scuffle with her would-be murderer.

"_It appears that last night, an assassin slipped into the prestigious Oasis resort, armed with a silenced handgun. Security footage shows him walking directly to the door to room 2830, where he attempted to kill the person lodging in the room."_ The screen switched to the grainy footage taken by the hotel's security cameras before returning to the broadcast. "_This definitely poses some serious questions, but the strangest part of it all is that the person in the room had not registered with the hotel. According to hotel records, the room was registered under the name 'James Fox.' We've attempted to locate Mr. Fox, but we haven't found him yet. For the moment, we're assuming that the Cerinian vixen that we found in the room was his guest." _He paused for a moment to catch his breath and then finished, "_From what the police told us, she killed the perpetrator with a staff that she had hidden in her backpack_."

Fox breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that Krystal was alive. He knew that she was shaken up very badly, but at least she had survived. He cursed himself for not being there for her and for engaging in his 'adventure' with Scarlet when he should have been trying to find a way back to the Oasis. He redirected his attention to the screen when a large husky in a blue police uniform approached the reporter to answer some questions regarding the crime.

"_Standing here is Sergeant Coleman of the Yaruitian Police Department,"_ said the feline reporter. "_Sergeant, what can you tell me about what happened here?"_

The husky cleared his throat and replied with a low, growling voice. "_Well, we've identified the body as a member of a mob group from Skallis, so that gives us a few ideas as to what he was doing here. The part that concerns me the most, however, is that he seemed to know exactly where to go to find his target. The Cerinian told me and my deputy that he was after her specifically. Since she wasn't registered with the hotel, there's only one thing that could explain how he knew where to find her."_

"_What's that, sir?" _asked the reporter_._

The officer furrowed his eyebrows and muttered, "_My best guess is that he had somebody on the inside who knew about her. We're looking for him right now, and we won't stop until he's brought to justice."_

Unbeknownst to Fox, Scarlet's eyes were locked onto the screen. Her jaw hung open, and her entire body felt paralyzed. "_It's only a matter of time before they find out about me. Oh no no no…this can't be happening—she was supposed to die!" _she thought, clenching her fists is despair.

She forced herself to fake a straight face when Fox turned and looked at her. His concern for Krystal was etched upon his face, and his tail and ears were on edge. "Scarlet, we have to get going _now_," he demanded, marching over to the bed and pulling the covers off of it. Locating his missing underwear, he pulled it on and set to work dressing himself while Scarlet stared blankly at the TV screen, horrified that Krystal had survived Leonardo Pietro's attempt at murder.

"_They'll find out," _she repeated to herself. "_No! Fox can't know! He'll ditch me and leave me for that Cerinian whelp if he does!"_

While buckling his pants, Fox realized that Scarlet's feminine scent was still clinging to his body. As much as he enjoyed the smell, he knew that if he returned to the Oasis, Krystal would know that he had been with another woman. Fox wasn't sure what to think about that possibility. He hadn't made any kind of commitment to Krystal; so technically, he hadn't cheated on her by sleeping with Scarlet. However, the young vixen's heart would be broken if she were to find out.

"_She'll find out with her telepathy anyhow," _Fox reasoned, _"I guess I'll have to break the news to her then. I hope she doesn't take it personally. I didn't want to hurt her; but man, I hadn't had a good romp in almost a decade. I mean, Scarlet was practically asking me to give it to her; so how could I pass that up?"_

After he had put on his foul-smelling t-shirt and the black Asgard jacket that went with it, he looked back to Scarlet—who was still naked in bed—and shouted, "What are you doing? Let's go, Scarlet!"

The red vixen cringed and climbed out of bed, locating her underwear and partially covering herself with the two pieces of clothing. Fox was not aroused in the least by Scarlet's lack of attire. He was far too focused on leaving the Avalon hotel and finding Krystal for that. Scarlet pulled on her catsuit but left her stolen uniform on the floor for the hotel's cleaning service to deal with. She had worn it enough and couldn't stand to feel the rough fabric scraping against her body any longer. Because they had left their respective weapons in the cockpit of Scarlet's interceptor, there were no additional supplies that they needed to pack up.

While they walked down the hallway outside their room and then entered the nearby elevator, Fox said nothing to Scarlet. The vixen was visibly tense. She stared out the glass front of the elevator with her arms crossed, thoughtlessly viewing the panoramic hotel lobby in front of her and Fox. After the two vulpines had checked out at the front desk, they crossed over the enclosed bridge leading to the parking area before they climbed into Scarlet's fighter and left the Avalon Downtown Hotel behind.

As before, Fox assumed the role of pilot while Scarlet attempted to relax in the seat behind him. She hadn't given much thought to the possibility that Krystal would survive the night. She knew that Leonardo was an experienced killer with years of training under his belt; so when she pointed him in Krystal's direction, she knew that the Cerinian's death would be assured.

However, the reality of what had taken place caused Scarlet to shudder in fear. She regretted assisting Leonardo. She knew that she shouldn't have told him anything. The blue vixen hadn't done anything to harm her; yet she still decided to end her life. She felt uncomfortable with her decision the very instant she made it, but it was too late to look back now.

As the city below turned into desert, Scarlet sighed and dug her hand into her face. She continued to replay all the possible scenarios in her mind. Every single one of them ended with Fox and that wretched Cerinian finding out about what she had done and then spurning her. She wasn't concerned about them turning her into the authorities because she had escaped capture and imprisonment many times in her past, but she didn't want to see Fox leave her. "_What have I done?"_ she screamed to herself despite not making any sound other than a quick sigh.

In a matter of minutes, the two black towers of the Oasis Resort came into view. After completing the formalities necessary for landing in the resort's hangar, Fox lowered the Artemis Interceptor to the metal floor and debarked with Scarlet. Clearly in a hurry, the vulpine rushed through the underwater tunnel leading to the lobby area before he stepped into the nearby elevator. Scarlet trailed behind him, wanting to avoid having to confront Krystal, who would likely dig into her mind and extract the reality of what she had done the night before.

"Come on, Scarlet," Fox growled, holding open the elevator door for the slow-moving vixen. With a dissatisfied huff, she stomped into the small enclosure and twitched her tail in anger. Noticing Scarlet's unhappy demeanor, Fox firmly grabbed her shoulder and asked her, "What's wrong, Scarlet? You've been dragging ever since you woke up. Don't lie to me—I know something's bothering you."

"It's nothing, Fox. No really—it's nothing," she replied, doing her best to mask her displeasure.

"Is it about Krystal?" Fox asked, refusing to buy her answer.

Scarlet looked down at the floor and lowered her ears. "Yeah, I suppose it is. I feel a bit guilty, to be honest with you."

The vulpine's face broke out into a melancholic smile as he ran his fingers through Scarlet's hair. "Are you feeling guilty about last night, too?"

Fox's question did nothing to ease Scarlet's internal conflict. Already, she felt guilty for dooming Krystal to a death that she was not deserving of; and if that hadn't been enough, Fox had just told her that he already felt guilty about mating with her. Lying through her teeth, she replied, "Yeah, I should have kept my clothes on. It was fun, but I don't think we should have done it."

Although she concealed her true feelings from Fox, she was screaming at herself for apologizing for the most enthralling experience she had partaken of in a very long time. Fox may have felt bashful after his night of love with Scarlet, but she was completely unashamed of it—proud of it, even.

When the elevator reached the 28th floor, the doors slid open, revealing the hallway where several reporters and police officers were milling about, investigating the crime scene and checking for any form of evidence as to who might have tipped off the attacker.

"_Remain calm,_" Scarlet told herself, forcing her tail and ears to portray a posture of confidence and authority, even though she knew that she would most likely be a prime suspect of the police investigation. As they neared the room, Fox broke into a run and attempted to enter his temporary abode; but before he could step through the door, the husky officer he had seen on the news broadcast shoved him in the chest and growled, "Hey, pal—what're you in such a hurry for?"

"Get your hands off me," Fox snapped, wrenching the officer's silver paw from his shoulder and explaining, "This is my room. I heard what happened last night and I'm here to make sure my guest is alright."

"Is your name James Fox?"

"Yes," Fox confirmed. "Now, are you going to let me in or not?"

The officer seemed reluctant to allow him access to the room, but he grudgingly complied and motioned for Fox to enter his suite. Stepping through the door, he looked around the room and saw the dead body of Krystal's would-be killer along with the crime scene investigators who were analyzing the corpse for any additional details that they could unearth. On the bed to his left sat Krystal, holding her head in her hands and sobbing like a helpless kit.

Feeling deep sympathy for the miserable vixen, Fox jogged over to the bedside and climbed up onto the bed next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder and nuzzled into her, his warm breaths immediately bringing a sense of comfort to her troubled spirit. The Cerinian opened her eyes, and upon seeing Fox sitting beside her, she whimpered a joyful cry and buried her muzzle in his chest, even though his 'borrowed' Asgard uniform smelled nothing like him.

"I knew you'd come back for me," she sobbed, gripping his shoulders. "I missed you so much last night. I needed to feel you near me, Fox."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there to protect you, Krystal," Fox replied, feeling a veritable tidal wave of guilt overwhelming him as his mind reflected on his fling with Scarlet. "I promise that it won't happen again."

The Cerinian pulled her head off of Fox's firm chest and looked into his eyes while stroking his muzzle with her delicate blue fingers. "I know. I trust you, Fox… I trust you more than anyone else."

Fox felt an arrow of regret shoot through his heart the instant that Krystal spoke those words to him. Almost immediately after the vixen had elaborated on her trust of Fox, she sniffed the air and recognized another scent mixed in with Fox's masculine odor. Although she was a virgin and was less than familiar with the act of mating and everything that went with it, she was not so naïve as to be ignorant of the unmistakable smell of a vixen's musk. In seconds, she pieced together the events from Fox's evening and sighed in disappointment.

With a look of despondency and sadness in her innocent eyes, Krystal shed a tear and whimpered, "Why, Fox? Why?"

Fox shook his head and stuttered, finding himself unable to reply to the young vixen's question. As the tear dripped down Krystal's face, Fox regretted his decision to mate with Scarlet even more than he had already. He knew that he should have resisted, no matter how difficult it would have been to do so. Sadly, what was done was done, and Krystal was hurt as a result. While she had been sleeplessly tossing and turning in bed, Fox had been satisfying himself with the same individual who had tipped off Krystal's attempted murderer—even though he was unaware of that bit of information.

Finally mustering the courage to force the words to his mouth, Fox mumbled, "I lost my head. I knew I shouldn't have done it, and I'm sorry. I didn't think it would hurt you this much. I…I knew you liked me, but I didn't know…"

"…That I loved you?" Krystal whispered, completing his statement for him.

Fox's face tensed up and his eyes shifted into a sad gaze as he replied, "Yeah… Is there anything I can do to make it up to you? I don't want to see you like this again."

The Cerinian tilted her head to the side ever so slightly and perked up her ears. "Kiss me," she whispered.

Fox's face flushed at her suggestion, and he felt far more nervous than he had in a very long time. He couldn't understand why he was so unsure of himself, considering that he had given Scarlet far more than just a simple kiss. Nevertheless, he was determined to make it up to Krystal for hurting her. Breathing rapidly, he put his arms around the Cerinian and planted a soft, gentle kiss on her lips. The interaction lasted for no more than five seconds; but when Fox pulled away, he saw a faint, contented smile on Krystal's face.

"Any better?" Fox asked.

"A little bit," Krystal replied, "Thanks, Fox."

"Um…you're welcome," Fox mumbled, scratching the back of his head as he climbed off the bed and walked over to his duffel bag that lay on the floor just outside the bedchamber's opened privacy curtain.

Perking up her ears in curiosity, Krystal followed him and asked, "What are you doing?"

Fox pulled a fresh shirt out of his bag and held it up before answering, "I think we're about to leave this planet. Scarlet's target escaped last night, and we're going to go track him down. Unless you want to go back to Cerinia, I'll have my wingman Slippy pick you up and take you back to my battleship. You'll be safe there."

The vixen frowned and balled up her fists. "No, Fox—I want to go with _you_."

"Krystal, it's going to be very dangerous. The guy who tried to kill you came from the same planet that I'm going to. Trust me—you don't want to come with me."

"Actually, I do," she retorted in a harsh voice that caused Fox's ears to perk up. "The only time I feel safe is when I'm with you. Please, Fox?"

"Krystal…"

Fox scratched his muzzle and contemplated the possibilities that could occur as a result of him bringing Krystal with him to Scarlet's homeworld, which was not known as a virtuous place by any stretch of the imagination. Bounty hunters and mercenaries ran amok in the planet-city's many streets and avenues that were riddled with crime, corruption, greed, and general lawlessness. Certainly this was not a place for a young Cerinian girl.

Yet, in spite of the danger, Krystal flatly refused to leave Fox's side, even if it meant that she would be in considerably more danger than she would if Fox sent her to the _Great Fox_. With great resignation, Fox looked at the vixen and said, "Fine—you can come with me. But don't tell me I that didn't warn you about what to expect."

Krystal nodded and walked over to her suitcase, where she placed her staff before she zipped up the wheeled bag and waited for Fox while he changed into a clean shirt.

* * *

When Fox started running towards his room, Scarlet took the opportunity to slip out of sight. She walked down an adjacent hallway, trying to appear as nonchalant as she possibly could in spite of the fear that raged inside her mind. A pair of avians ambled past her and waved, but she ignored them and pressed on down the hall. Rounding a corner, she found herself in a small chamber that contained two restrooms, a snack and drink machine combo, and a drinking fountain. She looked around the area to make sure she was alone; and when she determined that she was, she entered the women's restroom and walked into the first stall. Unlike most bathroom stalls, the door and the side panels extended completely to the floor, granting the maximum amount of privacy to the small space's occupant.

"What have I done?" she moaned, falling to her knees and resting her head against the side of the stall. "I knew I shouldn't have… Please Fox—don't leave me because of that…"

The silence in the room was almost insulting, and she swore that she heard a voice laughing at her misery, even though she was alone. "What's so funny?!" She screamed, looking at the ceiling.

The laughing persisted and even seemed to increase in intensity and spite.

Shuddering violently, the vixen put her hands over her ears to block the sound; but it had the effect of magnifying it to an intolerable level. Unable to take any more, she screamed at the top of her lungs and repeatedly slammed her head into the gray divider until her world began to fade out.

* * *

"_You shouldn't have done that, Cynthia."_

"_Your father would be even more ashamed of you than he already is."_

"_Fox is going to leave you now, you know."_

Scarlet's ears rang as she sat up on the tiled bathroom floor. Her vision was blurred, and everything looked like a giant blob to her, regardless of the distance between her and the nearby objects. Completely disoriented and unaware of her location and the time, she lifted her arm and glanced at her wrist communicator.

11:45 A.M.

"I've been in here for two hours?" she asked aloud, listening to the sound of her voice echoing off the bathroom's walls. A massive headache was the first thing she noticed apart from her surroundings.

"_Oh man… w…what happened?"_

She ran her fingers through her hair and reeled in shock when she felt the warm, sticky sensation of wet blood on them. Gasping, she stood up and nearly passed out once again. She balanced herself against the stall divider and caught her breath. All the while, her head throbbed in pain, begging for her to lie down and rest—or better yet, seek medical attention. Holding her hand against the bleeding cut on her forehead, Scarlet opened the stall door and looked at herself in the mirror ahead of her. Her forehead and part of her muzzle were coated with trails of dark red, and her hair was disheveled and unkempt.

Cursing herself for allowing her passions to get the best of her, she turned on the hot water in the sink in front of her and held her hand under the stream until it was almost scalding. Then, she reached over to the nearby paper towel dispenser and pulled out a number of the thin, white paper cloths. After dousing them in the blazing water, she applied them to her bloodied face and began to clean the sticky red fluid from her fur. It would take weeks for the injury to heal; but the cut was the last thing on her mind at the moment. She had to leave this place. Hopefully, she would be able to do so without having to talk to Krystal.

Tossing the paper towels in the trash, Scarlet opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the alcove, which was as empty as it had been before. Hoping that the authorities had left the hotel, she turned the corner and found herself face to face with none other than Fox McCloud himself. Next to him was Krystal, dressed in the hooded jacket and red pants that she had slipped into before the police had temporarily held her hostage in Fox's room.

Scarlet's countenance dropped to the floor as Fox approached her and patted her on the shoulder. "What happened, Scarlet?"

Forcing herself to look up into his eyes, Scarlet replied, "I..I don't really know. Don't worry, though—I'm fine."

At that very second, she felt a presence in her mind that caused her to panic. She knew how to block a Cerinian from gaining access to her thoughts; but in her state of distress, she found it ineffective. The red vixen winced as the Cerinian's mental patterns entered her consciousness, violating her from the inside. She tried to project random thoughts in an attempt to throw Krystal off, but the only one that came to her mind was the memory of her standing out on the Avalon Downtown Hotel's balcony, explaining to Leonardo Pietro where Krystal could be found.

In less than two seconds, it was over. When Scarlet looked up at Krystal—feeling like she had been mentally raped—she saw the vixen's placid expression change into a pleading, almost tearful frown.

She knew.

This was it—Fox was about to find out what she had done. He would leave her, or even physically hurt her out of anger. Scarlet waited for the Cerinian vixen to scowl at her and whisper her darkest secret into Fox's ear, but she didn't. Instead, she looked at her with the saddest eyes that she had seen in her entire existence. To Scarlet, her sadness seemed akin to the misery that a young child feels when he is reprimanded without understanding what he did to deserve such a punishment. In the silence, Scarlet heard a faint whisper. "_I won't tell him about what you did, as long as you promise that you won't take him away from me_."

The red vixen nodded reluctantly and then spoke to Fox, "We need to get moving. The next step involves you meeting my boss. He'll decide what your role in this job is." She motioned towards Krystal. "I assume she's coming too?"

"Yes," Fox replied, "I warned her, but she said that she feels safer with me."

"_Go figure,_" Scarlet thought, rolling her eyes in disgust and shaking her head. "We need to make the best use of time possible. If we leave now, we might be able to get settled in before it gets late."

"Krystal and I can be ready to leave in a few minutes. We don't have much to pack. There's just one thing, though…"

Scarlet had the suspicion that she wasn't going to be particularly fond of what Fox was going to say next. Feeling apprehensive, she asked him, "What, Fox?"

"Krystal will want to travel with me; and since my fighter only has one seat…"

"_Oh, you've got to be kidding me_,"Scarlet mused, stamping her foot on the carpeted floor of the hallway. She turned her attention to Krystal, who gave her a stern look that seemed to say, "_Do it, or I'll spill your little secret."_

Acquiescing to the Cerinian's demand, Scarlet let out an angry huff and snapped, "Fine! Go ahead and use my fighter! Just make sure you vacuum out all the blue hairs when you're done with it."

"No problem," Fox replied, reassuring her with another friendly pat on the shoulder. Turning his head and giving Krystal a friendly glance, he whispered into the red vixen's ear, "Scarlet, don't be so uptight. I'm not going to ditch you. Just understand that she really needs me right now."

"Fine, Fox," she conceded, although elsewhere in her mind, a far darker message was being conveyed.

"_I'll put up with this for now; but sometime soon, I'm going to get rid of that furball for good._"

Fox, Krystal, and Scarlet spent the next thirty minutes packing up their various belongings. After checking out of the hotel, the trio entered the hangar, climbed into their respective fighters, and left the desert world of Tehraia behind them. Fox's next order of business would be to explain to Peppy and General Pepper what had happened the night before; but that could wait a little while longer. For the moment, he stared out at the starry expanse ahead of him, admiring the scores of brilliant stars in the dark reaches of space. With his autopilot set to match Scarlet's coordinates, he turned his pilot's seat around and faced Krystal. The blue vixen was locked in a meditative trance with her eyes tightly closed. Her breathing was slow and relaxed, and a calm smile adorned her face as she basked in the comfort and security of Fox's presence.

For a brief moment, the vulpine looked to his right and locked eyes with Scarlet, who was piloting his Arwing against her wishes. Seeing her frustrated expression through the cockpit canopy, Fox winked at her and nodded his head before relaxing in his seat and watching Krystal silently meditate on the dramatic series of events that had brought her into his life.

Even though his initial task was complete, his adventure was far from over. As much as he wanted to be paid and return to the _Great Fox_, he anticipated the coming challenges and smiled at the thought. Finally, he was back where he belonged. Having a pair of ravishing vixens longing for his affections didn't hurt, either.

**END ARC I  
**

* * *

_AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):  
_

_Well, that's the end of the first part of this story. Stick around for the next arc, which takes place on Scarlet's technologically-overwhelming homeworld of Skallis, where the trio will encounter Scarlet's ridiculously wealthy boss, the leader of the mob that tried to kill Krystal, and an enigmatic stranger with more up his sleeve than any of his comrades would ever care to admit...  
_

_Also, the poll votes have been tallied up; and the winning answer to the question "Apart from blue, what color would look best on Krystal?" has finally been decided._

_**Dark Magenta** was very close to claiming the top spot; but the victory - by only one vote - belongs to **Deep Red**. Stay tuned to see where this plays into the story!_


	11. Chapter 11: Arrival on Skallis

**ARC II: Dystopia**

**Chapter 11: Arrival on Skallis**

The hours dragged by as Fox, Krystal, and Scarlet traveled through space in their fighters. With Scarlet's interceptor set to autopilot, Fox used the long journey to explain his objective to Peppy and to verify to General Pepper that instead of merely confirming the existence of the weapons dealer's possession of nuclear weaponry, he had taken him out entirely. The old hound dog was overwhelmed by the news; and instead of paying him the miniscule fee that he had intended to give to him, he raised the payout significantly. With the new funds due to be transferred into the Star Fox team's bank account within the week, Fox and his crew would finally have the monetary resources to make repairs on several of the _Great Fox_'s most important systems.

Now, though, Fox had a new objective on Scarlet's homeworld of Skallis. From the limited amount that the red vixen had explained to him, he knew that it was a harsh metropolis word not too dissimilar to Eledard. Unlike Eledard, however, Skallis lacked a strong central government. The police forces on the planet routinely found themselves overwhelmed by the local thugs, gangs, mercenaries, serial killers, bounty hunters, mafias, corporate militias; and sometimes, their own comrades. Law and order was virtually nonexistent; and it was this world of strife that Fox was about to enter. Understandably, he was concerned about Krystal's safety. As an innocent girl of an exotic species, she would be a potential target for predators of many natures.

The vixen had spent the vast majority of the trip locked away in a meditative trance, but when the dark planet came into view, she opened her eyes and smiled at Fox. He smiled back at her and rotated his chair back into its normal position before taking stock of the planet in front of him. Planets such as Corneria and Fichina cast auras of blue into the space around them, but the planet Skallis radiated a dark air that put Fox on edge immediately. As far as he could tell, the oceans on the planet were either very small or nonexistent. The surface of the planet appeared to be a dark obsidian color, most likely because of the towering urban sprawl that overran the entire sphere and hid any signs of water or plant life.

In seconds, Scarlet's voice came through his dashboard comms. unit. "This is it, Fox—paradise. Follow my lead. We'll land at the District 7 spaceport in the planet's upper hemisphere. My boss has agreed to meet us there."

"What does he look like?" Fox asked, falling in behind the Arwing that Scarlet was piloting.

"You won't miss him," she replied with a chuckle. "He has a certain way about him."

"I see," Fox mumbled, thumbing the controls for Scarlet's interceptor and preparing for the entrance into the planet's atmosphere. The red-hot flames began to dance across the fighter's canopy as the vehicle itself began to shake. In the seat behind him, Krystal gritted her teeth and braced herself against the g-forces that were far stronger than those generated in her transport ship. Moments later, the vibrations stopped, and the two fighters descended into the upper atmosphere.

The night that had fallen over District 7 was visibly cold. Small snowflakes flitted through the air and collided with the Artemis Interceptor's canopy. The temperature readout on Fox's HUD read 33 degrees—a far cry from Yaruit and the Oasis Resort. The sprawling city yawned before them. Bridges and roads built on raised platforms towered over the small buildings of the city, while hulking skyscrapers dominated the skyline, reaching more than 10,000 feet into the air in some cases. Smoke poured out from the smokestacks of large factories and manufacturing plants that flanked the city streets, which appeared to have been built in layers. The tallest of all the buildings in the nearby vicinity sported an elegant spire with a digital clock below it. The time read '11:50 P.M.'. Below the clock was a blue letter 'G' that was flanked by two horizontal arrows with the words "Gaia Corp." written below it.

Following Scarlet's lead, Fox fell in behind her and mimicked her every move as she set a course for a large spaceport that stood roughly ten miles from the Gaia tower. Blue-white lighting illuminated the airspace that was overrun with space traffic of all shapes and forms. On a large lot on the far left perimeter of the spaceport sat a large white battleship that slightly resembled the _Great Fox_, although this ship had two forward-facing wings instead of four rear-facing ones. No voices came through Fox's speakers, leading him to believe that Scarlet was coordinating the landing.

"Fox, we've got clearance to land on Lot 40. Put the ship down next to mine and then we'll head inside," she ordered, slowing her borrowed Arwing and lowering it to the concrete below. After flying over the worn-out control tower that looked like it was far past its prime, Fox cut the Artemis' throttle and descended to the ground next to his Arwing, which Scarlet was climbing out of. Clad only in her tight bodysuit, the vixen shivered as she dropped from the Arwing's aileron to the concrete surface of the landing area.

After touching down on the spaceport deck, Fox opened both the Interceptor's fore and aft canopies and helped Krystal out of her seat. Out of courtesy, he clambered down the ship's wing and held out his paw to help his Cerinian friend to her feet on the ground before he opened the fighter's luggage compartment and removed his cargo along with Krystal's.

"Thanks, Fox," said Krystal, patting him on the shoulder while Scarlet shot her an evil glance and motioned towards a nearby staircase that led into the spaceport's terminal area.

As the red vixen began to climb the stairs, she turned back to face Fox and Krystal. "This way. My boss is waiting for you," she explained with a tinge of expectation in her voice. Fox wasn't sure what to think about the proposition of being employed by Scarlet's boss, who had formerly been her romantic partner as well. However, the possibility of being paid even more was very enticing.

Opening the door after Scarlet and holding it for Krystal, Fox stepped into the terminal, which was much warmer than the area outside. Scarlet stood next to an informational kiosk with her tail whisking back in forth impatiently. "This way," she ordered, walking towards the glass doors that led to the terminal's short-term parking garage. As it had before, Fox's attention wandered to Scarlet's hips, accentuated with her skin-tight apparel. However, the instant that his mind wandered, Krystal pinched him in the arm, causing him to yelp in pain. He looked into her eyes in shock and was met with a jealous stare from her. Scarlet turned around after Fox whimpered; but after shaking her head in disapproval, she redirected her eyes to the exit doors and continued walking.

Being careful to look anywhere other than at Scarlet's hindquarters, Fox followed the red vixen with Krystal at his side. The glass exit doors slid open on their own accord, allowing a stinging blast of icy air to sweep into the building. Scarlet attempted to ignore it, but it was clear that she was freezing. However, her attention was quickly averted away from the plunging winter temperatures. In the drop-off/pick-up zone twenty feet from the door was an imposing white luxury sedan with a winged emblem on its trunk lid. The name 'Briggs-Taylor' was written below it in a script font. A dull-furred red vulpine stood next to the car, clad in a long dress coat that reached to his ankles. A set of modern, squared glasses rested on the bridge of his nose.

"Good evening, Scarlet," he curtsied, holding out his gloved hand for her to shake.

"Hello again, Felix," she replied, shaking his hand and then pointing to Fox, "This is Fox—the man I've been talking about. You'd do well to think about employing him."

"Indeed," he mumbled, stroking his muzzle. "Perhaps—but who's this?" He pointed to Krystal, who stepped back and dropped her ears in fear and embarrassment. "Don't be afraid, my dear. I'm not going to hurt you," he spoke in a warm—if monotonic—voice, beckoning for her to step closer to him. "What's your name, my friend?"

"Krystal," she replied. Trembling slightly, she walked up to the fox and looked into his cold, light blue eyes. She slipped into his mind with her telepathy, attempting to determine if he was someone worthy of her trust. Nothing particularly evil came to her mind as she sifted through his, causing her to abandon some of her fear.

"A Cerinian? Here?" asked Felix, turning his attention to Fox.

"It's a long story, sir," Fox replied.

"I'm sure. Get in the car and we'll talk about it on the way back to the Collective. And by the way, my name is Felix Sparta, CEO of the Gaia Corporation. Scarlet told me a lot about you. I hope you don't disappoint."

"I don't intend to," Fox asserted, although he was anything but confident in his new surroundings.

The dapper vulpine opened the white car's rear door and motioned for Fox and Krystal to load their luggage into the trunk and get in before he pried open the passenger door and helped Scarlet into her seat. With his passengers inside the vehicle, Felix walked around the front of the car and climbed into the driver's seat.

Fox and Krystal found themselves seated next to each other in the back of the car, separated by a thick armrest with two cupholders. Genuine wood trim was interspersed throughout the interior, which was dominated by sublimely supple ivory-colored leather. On the left side of the car, Krystal thumbed through the buttons near the window controls and unintentionally activated her seat's heating function. The warmth began to spread through her seat and through her clothing until it warmed her chilled body. She sighed in bliss and glanced over at Fox while Felix shifted his car into gear and drove out of the terminal parking area.

The downtown area around them was a paradox in the truest sense. Advanced, high-tech architecture dotted the city, although much of it was unkempt to a disgusting degree. "This is the lower portion of the city," the driver explained, avoiding a pothole in the road. "There are three levels to this city, and the place we're going is on the third one. It's much nicer up there."

The lights that bordered the asphalt did a decidedly poor job at illuminating the road, and some of them appeared to have been neglected for quite some time. Glancing out her window, Krystal let out a sharp gasp when she saw three felines step out of a nearby alley. All of them held contraband submachine guns.

Hearing the vixen's astonished gasp, the driver looked at her via his rearview mirror and reassured her, "Don't worry—they can't hurt you. This car could survive a bomb if it needed to." He reached for his hip and produced a diminutive automatic pistol. "And I can personally protect you, as well."

The white car continued down the darkened city street until Felix switched to the far right lane and moved onto the next onramp. The exit had a heavy incline, but the vehicle's powerful engine was more than capable of handling it. The ramp led to an interstate that ran fifty feet above the city and weaved through the high-rise buildings of business and commerce; and the vulpine driver followed it until another inclined onramp came into view.

Now more than a hundred feet above the city, the scenery around them began to reflect a different form of lifestyle than the dingy streets below. Establishments built into the sides of buildings jutted out towards the road, while the high-speed expressway began to morph into a road reminiscent of a boulevard in a modern city. Restaurants, nightclubs, shops and places of residence welcomed all visitors with crisp, bright xenon lighting. However, the most amazing part of the upper district was a floating landmass that seemed to hang in midair, more than a thousand feet above their heads. In the front seat, Scarlet cracked a smile and whispered, "Home again."

While Krystal drank in the scenery that was completely alien to her, Fox asked Felix, "Where are we going? You said something about a 'collective.'"

"Yes, that's right," the vulpine replied, turning his head to face Fox. "The Vulpine Collective is a fraternity that my father established more than twenty years ago. Essentially, it's a safe house and a social club reserved only for foxes like us."

"That's a bit racist," Fox mumbled.

"Maybe, but I'm the one making the rules here. I can do what I want with my property. If you're working with Scarlet, I'll consider giving you your own room, free of charge."

"Well, um… that's nice," Fox awkwardly replied. "What did you have in mind for me to do here?"

"We'll work that out a bit later," Felix answered, flipping on his right blinker and pulling up to a gate that stood in front of a large, unmarked building. The white vulpine in the gate booth recognized his leader and opened the gate for him with a nod and a salute. "That's Hanson, my head of security," Felix explained. "He helps keep the—shall we say—'suspicious' people out." Reverting back to the previous conversation topic, he explained, "I've got an upcoming meeting with someone who claims to know more about Asgard's dealings than I do."

"And who would that be?" Fox asked.

Sternly, Felix retorted, "You ask too many questions for your own good, Fox. In this city, you're going to have to learn to quiet down if you want to survive. I'm on your side, but if you get in too deep, don't expect me to save you."

"Got it…" Fox whispered under his breath.

The mansion that housed the collective held many vehicles within its spacious hangar, but instead of parking his luxury car in the main building, Felix slowed the vehicle and drove around the backside of the building, where an assortment of lush plants was kept. Nestled between several thick shrubs was a rustic garage with two parking bays. The vulpine reached up and pressed his opener, raising the garage door and allowing him to stow his car in its designated storage space.

Turning the engine off, he climbed out of the car and motioned for Scarlet, Fox, and Krystal to do the same. "We'll use the back entrance," he explained, "Follow me."

Scarlet walked beside her boss while Fox and Krystal trailed behind, admiring the beauty of the first plant life they had seen on the planet, all while toting their respective luggage bags. Both of them were amazed that such a place could exist more than a hundred feet above the planet's surface. Even more astonishing were the myriad towers that reached into the clouds high above them. The snow continued to fall on the cobblestone pavement at their feet in small flurries. With the back entrance to Felix's mansion still more than fifty feet away, Krystal stroked Fox's arm and asked him, "Have you ever seen anything like this?"

"Never," he whispered in reply. "This is unbelievable."

Looking into Fox's eyes with a look of longing in her own sea-green lenses, the vixen asked him, "Please—will you try to get me a room with you? I don't want to be alone."

"Don't worry, Krystal," Fox warmly replied, patting her on the back. "I'll make sure you're taken care of. I won't let what happened last night happen to you again."

"Thank you, Fox," she murmured, a ghost of a smile on her face.

When Felix reached the door, he opened it and held it for his guests, who were eager to set foot inside the sumptuous structure and escape the cold weather outside. Scarlet merely nodded her thanks, while Fox and Krystal verbally recognized his generosity.

"Take the next left," said Felix, directing them towards his office that stood at the end of the hall. The interior of the estate appeared to be even more remarkable than the outside. The halls were appointed with dark red walls that sported metallic black trim. Sumptuous oriental carpeting covered the floors, while a series of modern, white lights brightened the hallways with a sharp form of illumination very dissimilar to the warm, off-white lights that were in vogue on Corneria.

After digging through his coat pockets and pulling out his office key, Felix opened the exotic wood door that led to his office. The wood on the door had been taken from a fallen rainforest tree that Krystal quickly recognized as being from Cerinia. While Fox, Scarlet and Felix entered the office, Krystal ran her fingers across the wooden ridges in the door that brought back the feelings of her homeworld. She missed Cerinia, but the same could not be said about its residents. Ever since she had met Fox, she hadn't felt the same way about going back to her birthplace. Fox wouldn't be there if she returned; and without her friend Jasmine, she would be the loneliest that she had been in her entire life. At the moment, she would have rather been with Fox, as opposed to traveling back to Cerinia.

"_They don't miss me,_" she thought to herself, "_They could care less if I was dead—actually, I wouldn't be surprised if they planned my crash. Someone was out to get me back there, and my ship never did that to me before…" _She sighed and shook her head. "_No, Krystal; you're just being delusional._"

She set foot into the office, where Felix had seated himself in his black leather office chair behind his Cerinian-wood desk that was topped with a hard black surface. A silver laptop sat upon the desk next to a small lamp that the vulpine had left on before he went to pick up Scarlet from the spaceport. Pictures of several elderly vulpines dotted the office's wood-grain walls. Due to their remarkable similarity to their host, Fox and Krystal assumed that they were representations of Felix's ancestors.

Tapping his paw on the desk, Felix spoke, "Welcome to the Vulpine Collective. Scarlet, I'm leaving you responsible for making sure our guests are satisfied." Scarlet nodded, albeit in an unenthusiastic manner. Felix cleared his throat and directed his attention to Fox and Krystal. "Are you two romantically involved?" he asked.

"Er…I…um…" Fox stammered, nervously glancing over at Krystal, who began to giggle.

"I'll take that as a 'yes,'" Felix replied with a smile, causing Scarlet's face to light up in shock and horror. She knew exactly what he would do; and if he did, it would put a yawning gap between her and Fox.

"Um, Felix, can I…" she worriedly interjected, reaching out her hand and motioning for Felix to stop talking.

"What's wrong, Scarlet? Do you have a problem with me putting these two in a room together?"

"Well, yes I…" she looked over a Krystal in time to see her contort her face into a frown and raise her eyebrows twice as if to say, "_I'll tell Fox about what you did if you get in the way." _Shirking back in fear, Scarlet mumbled, "Never mind…it's not a problem."

"Good then," said Felix, digging through a drawer in his desk and pulling out a key, which he handed to Fox. "Here's the key to your room, Fox. For now, it's on me. If you can prove that you're as good as Scarlet says you are, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want."

"Thank you, sir," Fox replied, taking the key and shaking Felix's hand. The meeting adjourned shortly thereafter, and the four vulpines went their own separate ways. Fox and Krystal began to explore the halls and corridors of the Collective, while Scarlet wandered off on her own and headed in the direction of her suite. Felix remained in his office, where he prepared for his upcoming meeting.

In time, the hall that Fox and Krystal were in opened up into a large, airy atrium accented with ferns and palm trees that decorated the space around a square fountain. Several red couches were positioned in various places around the stone-colored chamber, where a small number of vulpines lounged, relaxed, or conversed with each other. Upon seeing Krystal, a few of them turned their heads to look at her, causing the Cerinian to blush and lower her ears and tail out of fear. Noticing her trepidation, Fox stoked her back and whispered into her ear, "There's nothing to be afraid of. They won't hurt you—I promise." Looking around the area, Fox asked his companion, "Do you want to sit down here?"

Krystal shook her head and instead suggested, "How about we see what's close to our room?"

"Fair enough," Fox replied, looking at the small tag attached to his room key for clues to his room's location. He and Krystal walked out of the open area, away from the prying eyes of the Collective's residents and into another hallway similar to the one they had first stepped into. From what Fox could tell, his room was on the base level—which he was on at the moment. As they walked along the hallway along the front side of the building, they looked out at the street and watched the cars drive by on the busy street that was still heavily occupied even in the late hours of the night. Fox and Krystal had been awake for less than twelve hours; however, a small digital clock mounted on the nearby wall read '1:05 A.M.' Most of the Collective's residents had turned in for the night, but Fox and Krystal were far from tired. Fortunately for them, the building never truly closed for the night.

On the way to their room, the two vulpines noticed an area defined by heavily tinted glass with a white sign on the door that read 'Pool and Spa.' Fox quickly returned his mind to thinking about his possible future employment with Felix, but the blue vixen's thoughts moved to the warm waters that called out to her from inside the room. "_Maybe later,_" she thought, looking behind her to make sure that something hadn't gone wrong with her suitcase.

Soon, Fox reached his door and inserted his key into it. The black door swung open, revealing a well-decorated space with the same red and black coloration that defined the Collective's interior. The color scheme had been designed as a form of homage to traditional vulpine colors, although Krystal felt badly out of place with her blue fur. The room featured two windows that granted the residents a view of the road and the local scenery, along with a suite of black furniture. The overall size of the room was unimpressive, but it lacked nothing that Fox or Krystal needed. A small kitchen was built into the room, and the bathroom featured a full bath and a separate shower enclosure. The overall feel of the room was edgy and modern, with a mildly dark element that caused it to feel somewhat mysterious.

Krystal set her luggage down on the floor and dropped onto the bed, letting out a sigh in the process. Fox stared out the window before turning his attention to Krystal, who seemed to be content with her circumstances. "Do you like it?" Fox asked, lowering himself onto the bed and resting his head on the red pillows.

Krystal closed her eyes for a moment and then looked over at Fox. "It's alright," she murmured, almost silently. "It's not home, but I can live here. How long do you think we're going to be staying in this place?"

Fox curled his lip and looked up at the ceiling, where a motionless fan with rectangular blades hung. "I don't know. As long as it takes for me to finish my objective, probably. It could be a few days, or it could be a few months. You're okay with that, right?"

Krystal smiled and answered, "As long as you're here, I don't care."

Fox felt his heart flutter. From the very beginning, he had attempted to keep his friendship with Krystal just that—a friendship. However, as the days rolled by, it seemed to him that she wanted something more. Fox found himself drawn to her, not because of her body or any seductive action she had made; but because of the calm, beautiful air that surrounded her wherever she went. At the same time, though, his body burned for Scarlet, despite his remorse for mating with her and causing Krystal to feel degraded as a result. Still, if he was given the opportunity to satisfy himself with her once again, he knew that he would be unable to refuse.

It was the last thing that he wanted to admit to Krystal, but he loved both her and Scarlet; albeit in different ways. However, he did have to concede that it was probably better for him to room with Krystal, as opposed to Scarlet. He could control himself around the Cerinian, but Scarlet—she was a different matter entirely.

For a number of minutes, Fox and Krystal laid on the bed, looking into each other's eyes and relaxing after the long flight from Tehraia to Skallis. The silence continued until Krystal broke it with a question. "Do you want to read your book with me?"

Fox's eyes widened as he gulped in fear. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead, and his breathing quickened. The one thing he didn't want Krystal to know about was the one thing she had just asked him about. Feeling the blood rushing to his cheeks, he stammered, "Um…if you w…want to… I didn't really think you'd…"

Krystal silenced him with a playful pat on his nose and inched closer to him until her muzzle was less than a foot from his. "Don't be ashamed of yourself, Fox," she said with a smile, "Anything that helps, right?"

"Sure…" Fox halfheartedly replied, climbing off the bed and opening his duffel bag that now contained a pair of swim trunks, a bottle of cologne, and—of course—the book that he had tried to keep hidden from Krystal. He pulled it out of the bag, knowing that the vixen was smiling behind him. After a quick glance at the blue cover, he sat down on the bed next to Krystal and asked her, "Where do you want to start?"

"How about we start from the beginning? We've got plenty of time."

"Sure thing," he replied, uneasily turning to page 1 and holding the book out in front of him so that both he and Krystal could read it.

* * *

Meanwhile, just outside the building, Felix Sparta stepped across the cobblestone courtyard separating him from his garage. At the building's side entry door stood Hanson, his head of security. The white fox was dressed the same way that his master was. He stood at attention, barring the door from any unauthorized access until Felix approached him and said, "Stand down, Hanson. Did you tell Vincenzo to rendezvous with us on the way?"

"Yes, sir," Hanson replied, opening the side door and ushering his master into the garage.

Felix opened his sedan's passenger side door and sat down in the seat that still bore Scarlet's scent. "Good. You drive tonight."

"Yes, sir."

Hanson walked around the front of Felix's car and climbed into the driver's seat. After opening the garage door with the vehicle's opener, he backed the car out and turned around, heading towards the Collective's gate that opened for them thanks to a pressure sensor underneath the stone driveway. While Felix played with the purple scarf that dangled from his neck, Hanson turned onto the avenue outside the mansion and began his journey down to the lower city, where Felix was scheduled to meet up with an old acquaintance that he truthfully wasn't very excited about seeing.

"I don't trust him," Felix muttered, adjusting the car's heat settings.

"Pietro?" Hanson asked while checking his mirrors prior to switching lanes and taking the next exit that led to the second level of District 7.

Felix sighed and answered, "Yeah, him. These meetings never turn out well. I bet he just wants to raise the cost of my 'protection,' as he calls it."

"Probably," Hanson concurred. "Still, he might have something else in mind. You _do_ realize that he's actually going easy on you compared to Carache and the brass at Asgard, right?"

"Yeah, I know. It's probably just because my dad knew him. That doesn't mean that I like him, though. He's just like all the other mobsters—he doesn't care about anything other than money. He'd probably knock off one of his kids if it made him 50 credits richer. It's people like him that ruined this planet."

"That's not what the media would say," Hanson remarked.

Felix raised his eyebrows and shot his head of security an evil glare. "Does anyone really care what they say anymore? The Democratic Republic of Skallis went bankrupt and died out twelve years ago. Sure, it still technically exists, but they don't have any real power anymore. Those bureaucrats can play the media card all they want; but when it's all said and done, the people in power are the ones with the money—namely, me, Pietro, and that whack-job over at Asgard.

Hanson smiled. He enjoyed listening to his employer heap insults on the CEO of Asgard industries, mostly because the iguana deserved every bit of hatred that he received. It was no secret that he routinely violated ethical practices and health and safety regulations for the sake of cranking out more of his company's products. The approach had—unfortunately—paid off, allowing Carache's industrial juggernaut to increase its growth by more than 10 percent in the last five years and to pass Felix's Gaia Corporation in total revenue and sales for the first time in its existence.

From a fiscal standpoint, Felix needed to find a way to increase his company's profitability to keep pace with his business rival; but he couldn't stomach the thought of cheating and violating his way to his goal.

"_The only way out is to kill Carache. I won't stoop as low as he did. Business is a two-way transaction; and when it stops being a deal where both the producer and the consumer can get something out of it, it becomes a form of tyranny." _

He thought about Scarlet and how close she had been to completing her objective. If she had been just a few seconds quicker, she might have been able to take down Carache. Now, things were going to be much more difficult. Instead of being holed up in a small weapons warehouse on Tehraia, the shrewd lizard would be hiding out in the sprawling, expansive Asgard Central complex—the center of his business empire that extended across the planet and many of the other worlds in Skallis's solar system.

"_Incredibly difficult, but not impossible,_" he thought, "_But I think Scarlet can do it. She's pretty consistent when it comes to collecting bounties."_

His thoughts were interrupted when Hanson drove the white sedan down an off-ramp leading to the lower part of District 7. Unlike the spaceport area, this part of the lower city reflected a classy, dignified air.

"_Mob territory._"

Without warning, a large, red SUV pulled out behind Hanson and Felix and flashed its high-beam headlights at them. "There he is," said Hanson, announcing the arrival of their third man, Vincenzo. Momentarily, the SUV pulled alongside the luxury car on Felix's side. The vulpine glanced over to his right and nodded at the black wolf behind the wheel. For all intents and purposes, Vincenzo's job description mirrored Scarlet's. A for-hire mercenary willing to work for whoever would pay the most, he had become known as one of the best bodyguards that money could buy. It was fortunate that Felix had plenty of it to spend.

Hanson glanced at his navigation screen, noticing that their destination was less than a half-mile away. The neighborhood they found themselves in was best described as an upscale suburban area. Valuable houses with lush green yards stood on both sides of the street, and several expensive vehicles were parked on the unmarked residential drive.

"Here it is," said Hanson, pointing towards a well-appointed house located on the left side of the street. "Wait a minute, there's something wrong here. Did he send us to his own house?"

Felix furrowed his eyebrows and replied, "It looks like it. I didn't expect that at all."

"Neither did I. I've got to say, it seems really suspicious. Keep your guard up and let Vincenzo do the work if Pietro tries anything. Got it?"

"Sure thing." Felix allowed his head of security to open his door and step out first before he followed suit. Vincenzo parked his vehicle on the curb next to the residence's yard and fell in behind them. The lupine had dressed himself in a heavy jacket that did a very poor job of hiding the bulletproof combat armor that he wore under his outer clothing. Felix glanced at him and whispered, "Keep an eye out for anything suspicious. This could be a trap. I don't trust this guy, even though he's technically my godfather."

"Sure thing," Vincenzo growled in reply.

Allowing Hanson and Vincenzo to walk ahead of him, Felix ambled up the sloped driveway leading to Pietro's house until the three of them reached the building's ornate front door. "I'll knock," Felix whispered.

Uncertain about what lay behind the door, the vulpine balled up his fist and rapped on the wooden slab. Almost immediately, a heavy set of measured footsteps became audible from inside the house, followed by a voice dominated by a heavy accent. "Sparta?"

"Yes, Pietro," the vulpine replied. "I'm here."

"Excellent! Come on in." After a momentary delay, the door swung open, revealing the middle-aged, overweight, well-dressed vulpine figure of Salvatore Pietro. As with Felix, the mobster wore a set of spectacles, although his made no attempt to be fashionable or trendy in any way. He wore a generic black suit with a matching white shirt and a red tie that contrasted well with his gray fur. Noticing Felix's two counterparts, Pietro shook his head and laughed. "Bodyguards? Really? I'm not going to kill you, Sparta! What would make you think that I would do that?"

"You're asking me that question?" Felix retorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Why don't you tell me why I should trust you? You've done some pretty dodgy things before."

"Okay—so maybe I pushed it a _little_ bit in the past; but it's different tonight," he admitted. "I brought you to my house because what I have to tell you is very important."

"How important?"

"Come in and I'll explain it," Pietro replied.

Reluctantly, Felix stepped across the threshold into the lavishly-decorated house that smelled strongly of cigar smoke. His two counterparts followed him in, ready to draw their weapons at any time. The large fox led his guests down the hall and up a flight of stairs until they reached the door that separated Pietro's study from the rest of the house. "I'm afraid that only Felix can come in," he explained. "I promise that I won't hurt him."

Hanson was quick to deliver a biting remark. "Your promise means nothing. You've gone back on your word so many times in your life that it would make your head spin if you really thought about it."

Pietro chuckled and turned the office's doorknob. "Maybe, but if you don't stand down, you'll have come all this way for nothing. Capisce? Come now, Felix—let's get to business, shall we?"

Hanson shook his head as Felix disappeared into the study with his godfather. Turning to Vincenzo, he muttered, "What a waste of time. We can't even protect him!"

Vincenzo shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the wall at the top of the staircase. "Hey, at least I'm getting paid. I don't know about you, but that counts as a win for me."

* * *

Closing the door behind him, Salvatore Pietro snatched up a cigar from a nearby box and pulled a lighter out of his pocket. In seconds, the aroma of burnt tobacco began to fill the room. "Sit down," he said, dropping down into a comfortable armchair across from the couch where Felix seated himself and leaned forward expectantly.

"What's so important here?" Felix asked, glancing out the window to make sure that he wasn't being watched by something or someone.

Pietro took a puff of his cigar and leaned back in his chair. "It's about your rival Carache. He's up to something."

"When is he _not_ up to something?" Felix grumbled, rolling his eyes in contempt for the owner of Asgard Industries.

He expected Pietro to let out at least a chuckle; but the serious, stone-dead expression on the mobster's face told Felix that the situation may have been more serious that he thought. "Felix—tell me what you think about this. As you know, I have eyes and ears everywhere on this planet—in the government, in your business, in Carache's business…everywhere. Anyway, last week, I received word from one of my sources that Asgard Industries is opening a facility on the planet Cerinia."

Felix's eyes widened in shock. "That's insane! That's the corporate equivalent to putting a gun to your head and pulling the trigger! No one's ever had a successful business endeavor on Cerinia. There's just not enough demand for offworld products! I know Carache's not _that _stupid. There's got to be an ulterior motive."

"Correct," said Pietro. "Something very suspicious is at play. If you'll excuse me for a second…"

Pietro stood up and walked over to his work desk, where his laptop awaited him. After unplugging it from its charger, he opened the screen and set the computer on the coffee table in front of the couch where Felix sat. The image of a long-haired female raccoon dressed in a black tank top appeared on the small display. "Good evening, Felix Sparta," she said in a refined voice.

"Good evening," he replied.

The raccoon brushed a strand of hair out of her eye and continued, "Listen, Mr. Sparta—I don't have much time. First off, let me explain myself. My name is Victoria Thane. I work—or, I should say—used to work as Antoine Carache's personal secretary. Last night, an attempt was made on my life; and I'm absolutely certain that my boss was behind it."

Felix raised an eyebrow and asked her, "Why would he do that?"

Victoria replied, "I believe he thought that I was getting too close to discovering something that he was trying to hide."

"Any examples?" asked Felix.

"Yes, Mr. Sparta. Three weeks ago, I overheard my boss talking with the head security officer in charge of the Asgard Central complex's surveillance equipment. I very distinctly remembering my boss telling him to turn off the security cameras to the auxiliary building that houses a good deal of Asgard's military inventory. Bear with me, though—it gets stranger."

She paused and brushed her hair again, then resumed her narrative. "He started acting very secretive not too long after that. Normally, he would talk to me about everything; but he clammed up and hardly even acknowledged me after a certain point. Four nights ago, I decided that I had to get to the bottom of it. I had to work late hours to make up for a day that I missed due to illness; and the building was almost empty except for the security staff and Carache himself. This was the fifth night in a row that he stayed past midnight. As Carache's secretary, I had access to all the administrative codes to the building and its systems; so after I made sure that no one was looking, I left my post and sneaked into the security office. The head of security must've been on a coffee break or something, because the control room was empty. Using the codes my boss gave me, I turned on the security cameras in the auxiliary building. What I saw after that gave me goosebumps."

Felix leaned closer to the computer screen and demanded, "What did you see?"

"I saw my boss walking down one of the hallways with someone dressed in a black hooded robe. I couldn't see anything that identified him with any species. His movements were like those of a ghost. He seemed to float across the ground, although it might just have been his robe that gave that illusion. I overheard a bit of their conversation through the camera's audio feed. He said something like 'I'm going to ship out the troops. I'm afraid that someone will find out about them before it's time.' The black-robed man replied, 'Fine. Do what you have to. I am willing to wait for a new tomorrow.'"

Felix scratched at his muzzle and looked up at Pietro, whose face bore an expression of absolute seriousness. "That's disturbing," he muttered.

Pietro put his cigar up to his lips for a moment and then replied, "Felix, you need to act quickly. I don't know what Carache is doing with this man, but his last words alone have me concerned."

"I'll see what I can do," Felix replied. Rising to his feet, he shook Pietro's hand before both of them exited the study and stepped back into the hall, where Hanson and Vincenzo were waiting.

Immediately after Felix stepped through the doorway, Hanson grabbed him by the arm and whispered into his ear. "What was that all about?"

"I'll explain later," Felix answered, "But it looks like Scarlet's friend might be getting a chance to prove himself soon."


End file.
